A Rose Recreated, Just as Sweet
by Ozzboi
Summary: An accident causes Ruby to lose her original body, only a program in testing preventing her from dying. Now, in a Metal copy of herself, Ruby learns to fight, fly, and forgive. Remnant World with a few twists, some events form canon will happen, some will be different. Ruby is both a Robot and a Faunus in this story. Feedback Appreciated, if you have questions feel free to ask.
1. Chapter 1

A few things to mention beforehand:

Jacques is a nice guy here, Blake's parents left a bit earlier here, And the Schnee children are not as snooty as canon. Summer was a wolf Faunus.

Chapter 1: Innocent beginnings

It was Fall, the hot summer of the previous year had finally subsided, landscapes that were sunny and green quickly transformed into red as the leaves changed colour. It was during this time that Taiyang Xiao Long, the bulwark of the legendary Team STRQ decided to pay a visit to some of his old friends with his daughters Ruby Rose and Yang Xiao Long.

Ruby, at age 5, was the definition of inquisitive, a wolf Faunus with a sharp nose and a tendency to search around and get herself stuck in almost every nook and cranny possible, being adorable every step of the way, with her black hair and ears that turned red at the tips and shiny silver eyes that could widen at her command. Fortunately, her sister Yang, a 7 year old with shimmering golden locks and lavender eyes, pale skin (not as pale as her sister's, but still pale) and above average height, a mirror image of her father, would reel her in before too much chaos would be surely caused by her sister, most of the time, if they were scheming together then Tai would know true terror.

The plan was to visit a close friend of Tai, who happens to be Hivern Schnee, wife to the patriarch of the Schnee Dust Company, a kind and caring man by the name of Jacques. The two had always been close friends, growing up together when they were small and often crossing paths, even after Tai had moved to Patch and married with Raven Branwen and Summer Rose. Recent times have been harsh on Tai, Raven had left Yang behind as soon as she had been born without a word, leaving her Brother Qrow, Tai and Summer to take care of the baby. Tai found solace in Summer, who had also left behind Ruby, except this time in death, through miscarriage. It was only through the coaxing of both Qrow and Hivern, who had birthed 2 happy girls and one boy, for him to get out of his depressed mindscape and continue being a proper father to his children.

Tai walked up to the front gate, the excited squealing of Ruby and Yang following his ears, he looked to the left and saw a crudely painted message on the wall of a nearby house: "_**Our lives are worth more than the sum of money you could ever earn**_!" it was signed by a red growling head of a tiger. Tai sighed, being Head of the SDC was a very tiring job: Jacques had spent a lot of money to improve the conditions for Faunus and human lives alike for his mines, but other companies did not have the money or the desire of upgrading their mines to being as efficient and safe, and some human miners still held contempt for their Faunus counterparts. The council of Atlas was also reluctant to provide funds to help other companies improve their conditions, and would rather focus their money on scientific and militaristic categories, which was the root of one of the largest political and social problems in Remnant.

Many of Atlas' upper society had not accepted their defeat at the hands of the Faunus during the Faunus Rights Revoluition, a revolution staged by the Faunus in retaliation against Humans trying to centralize their species in Menagerie. And when Faunus think of Atlesian upper society, they think of Jacques, and things spiral from that point on.

Ruby tugging at Tai's hands brought him back to reality, as the gates swung open, Hivern and Jacques coming out to greet them hand in hand with their children. Ruby, as usual, came running up to say her greetings to the Schnee matriarch with Yang in tow, Winter, Weiss and Whitley calmly greeting them in contrast to the cheerful and explosive greetings of the Xiao Long-Rose family. The two households gathered and caught up on recent events, unaware of how badly the day would turn out from this point forwards.

Adam looked on from the rented apartment, at the back of the beautiful Schnee Manor, with its beautiful gardens and spotless walls, walls that should be torn down. He reached out and touched his scar, the one that took his left eye and cruelly displayed the letters COAL on his once unblemished face. The media may represent the Schnees as benevolent people but in the end, they are still people who send his kind to the grave. It was HIS people who toiled and suffered while Jacques and his family stayed and owned this large estate, clean on the outside but not from the invisible blood of Faunus who had died from collapsing mines.

After Ghira and Kali Belladonna had left the White Fang, the organization had been in chaos, many who did not desire to take up arms had left the organization, but not all was lost. There were enough senior members to re-establish a chain of command, and Blake had stayed, she did not understand the true reason her parents left; just that they abandoned their cause, which is just what Adam needed. The current plan of action decided by the White Fang was simple, yet foolproof: The Belladonnas were known to be peaceful, so the plan was to have a package showed up at the Schnee Manor, delivered by none other than child of the Belladonnas, and then have it detonate when opened, no one would expect a package from a child to detonate. This would be the opening move of the new white fang movement, to show just how far the Faunus are willing to go to receive respect, and it would also teach the elder Belladonnas that no one should abandon the White Fang, even less so their own leaders.

"Blake, this package is for you to deliver, it's from your father and it is supposed to go to the Schnees."Blake did not know what was inside the fancy looking box, but she did know: 1. it was from her father and it was important, 2. it smelled faintly of dust, when she asked the other WF members they said there was an accident while it as being shipped from Menagerie (they looked a bit high strung when she asked, but it was probably her imagination), 3. It had something inside it that was attached to the box, 4. She was supposed to drop it off and come back as soon as possible, they were supposed to have a meeting later and she was not going to miss it.

As Blake neared the Entrance she heard laughing and talking, a few voices she recognized instantly as the Schnee family, and others she didn't quite know. As soon as she reached the gate entrance she laid the box, and was turning to leave only to hear loud "HI" behind her. A young wolf Faunus with silver eyes and black hair ending in red came and waved, only to see the box: "is this for us?" Blake nodded dumbly, surprised by the sudden appearance of a Faunus inside Schnee Manor, but the way she said "us" could only mean she had ties with the Schnees, and started walking away hearing a distant "OKAY BYE" in the distance, over the laughter and chatter.

Blake soon thought of her own parents as she walked home, she thought of how they looked when she rejected their requests to go to Menagerie with them, how they asked the other White Fang leaders to take care of her, even though it was their job. Blake shook her head, she was no longer to be with her parents, at least for a long while, though a small piece of her nagged her to apologize for some of the things she said on that night, Blake found a tear slipping out, and wiped it hastily. A large explosion suddenly rang out, causing Blake to turn, her eyes widening as she picked up the smell of burnt dust, and blood. Blake started running for the White Fang base with more questions than when she left.


	2. Chapter 2

The moment you've been waiting for, Ruby blows up

Note: the box starts a countdown of 3 when the lid is open

Also, someone posted that the motivation for Adam seemed a bit farfetched, so I will explain a bit, because I saw that the explanation was indeed lackluster:

The Majority of Atlas media is not Faunus Run, but human run, and they do not condemn the other companies in public, so when they praise the SDC Adam won't believe what they said because they said the same things for other companies. Also, the Atlas branch is by far the hardest to control because the racism is strongest

Chapter 2: Explosion

Ruby reached out through the bars of the gate and brought in the box, it felt slightly heavy, but Uncle Qrow had always said that she was stronger than the average Faunus or Human. The box was around 8 inches wide and 10 inches long, and 5 inches in height, with ornate green, red and gold designs all over it. Yang and the Schnee children came running over to inspect the item that came in.

"What's the box sis?" Yang asked as she looked over the fancy object. Winter, Weiss and Whitley also looked around in curiosity, the seemingly harmless and fancy box drawing their attention from their game of hopscotch they were playing moments ago. "I don't know Yang, a strange girl brought it over, and the box says it's for Uncle and Aunt Schnee, from the… um…" Ruby paused, trying to read the text beside the **From** on the Box "Bedonna's?...Bellona's…". Winter took a closer look and recognized the name: "Belladonna's"…

Ruby began to twitch her ears, unable to hold back anymore, she quickly began fumbling with the box. The box did not yield at first, but then Ruby saw a peculiar button on the top, so Ruby did the Ruby thing to do, push it. It opened, and when it opened, Ruby detected a peculiar smell, and her eyes widened, remembering just what that smell was.

_"Uncle Qrow, what are those fancy crystals?" Many shards were lined up in front of a shop called "Dust to Dawn". A large hand ruffled her hair and ears, and she quickly put up her hands to protect her fluffy little ears from her Uncle's calloused hand "Those are dust crystals Ruby, Burn dust specifically" her uncle laughed as her ears perked up with sudden interest: "can we touch 'em?" The hand appeared again, this time resting on her tiny shoulder "Unfortunately, Dust is not for you, kiddo, at least not right now," he spoke, silencing her with his index finger before she could ask the inevitable Why Not? "if you drop them, which you certainly will, they will explode, and let me tell you, an explosion does not look good on you kid..."_

A loud series of quick beeps forced Ruby out of her memories, and she broke into a cold sweat. "THE BOX IS MAD!" she hollered, and Winter, the oldest one of the bunch (and the only one with her semblance unlocked), quickly threw glyphs down in a desperate attempt to move the small group away from the IED.

Tai and Hivern's heads whipped around when they heard a strange beeping sound, and saw that the box was making that sound. Hivern lay her own glyphs to mover the children including Ruby, who had dropped the box. It looked as if the children were safe, and the adults let out a sigh of relief, only to realize the group was missing two people. Winter, in her desperation and panic, had not put a propulsion glyph, but rather a restricting glyph on herself. She looked to the right to see that Ruby was also stuck in one, so she quickly nullified the glyphs and started running towards her mother. Ruby was also running back but realized the beeping had quickened to a considerable rate, she then knew that she and Winter would not outrun whatever this box had in store for her, so she did what any good friend would do to another, shield Winter with her own body.

The bomb exploded and Ruby opened her mouth to scream, but found out she couldn't, she felt as if someone had punched her really, really hard in the chest, leaving her out of breath and unable to speak. Ruby felt a scorching hot pain all over her arms and legs, she then lost feeling in her legs, flesh warped and blood flew and dried as the bomb hit Ruby full force. Ruby made one last attempt to mouth her father's name as she reached for the horrified glances of her family and friends, briefly wondering if Winter was safe from the box as she felt more pain, and then nothing at all as the world went dark.

Trees were bent, flowers were uprooted, and walls once pristine were cracked and dusted with red as the bomb exploded. Winter bounced up and down a few times before she stopped at a wall, she then looked up, ears ringing and eyes watering, as her mother rushed up to inspect her, and then gape in horror at something behind her as she too went unconscious. What Winter would've saw if she stayed awake, would have been Ruby, arms and legs bent at unnatural angles; her left foot and right hand completely taken off, bone showing at the tips. Ruby's back was an angry pattern of red and black, still smoldering where the bomb hit her, shards of the box also covering it. Ruby's face was the one thing left untouched in the incident, blood pooling around her mouth and nose, the look of shock and fear plastered with now closed silver eyes, and ears eerily twitching when the girl was clearly unconscious.

Before Tai knew it, he was running across the front garden to where Ruby lay. Hivern quickly dialed an ambulance on her scroll, praying to whatever higher being that Ruby would survive long enough to be stabilized by the paramedics. Yang wailed at the sight of Ruby battered and bloody on the ground and began running to her father and crying for Ruby to wake up, Weiss and Whitley also crying in shock when they saw the condition of Ruby's body. The ambulance took Ruby and away, and that was the last time Schnee Manor would ever be without guards, carefree days now gone.

Qrow Branwen was at home listening to the radio, nursing a shot of root beer in his hand, he had promised to drink less from now on, Tai had taken up teaching in Signal and it was up to Qrow to watch Ruby, and the little scamp had proven herself, time and again, to be the most dangerous thing alive to all furniture that existed. He and Tai had once taken the kids to school registrations, and Ruby then managed to turn a couch into a steel skeleton in 52 seconds. Qrow chuckled to himself, and then frowned when he heard the tune "Bad Luck Charm," scroll ringing with Tai as the caller. Qrow answered the call, then quickly launched out the door and hastily locked the door as Tai relayed the day's events, tears dripping from his corvid eyes as he transforms into a crow and flies as quickly as he could to the Advanced Atlesian Medical Hospital _Stay alive kiddo _Qrow thought_ you're the one of the few things keeping me sane, and I'm not ready to lose you yet_.

It was Quiet when Qrow arrived at the waiting room, the attendants directing him their had displayed looks of sorrow when he mentioned Ruby. He opened the door, and the first thing he saw was Tai and Yang sobbing their lungs out, the Schnee family sitting beside them in sorrowful silence. He quickly sat besides Tai, a few tears leaking down his own grizzled face, and the two embraced, sandwiching Yang in between."It's going to be okay" Qrow said "Ruby's gonna be fine...She has to be" Qrow himself felt his voice crack in the very end, but it didn't matter. the door opened, and a nurse came in with a solemn look: "May I speak with the family of Ruby Rose?"

Ruby opened her eyes, looking around and seeing a serence and graceful landscape, full of green. She squinted her eyes, and saw a figure in the distance and gasped, she would recognize that white cloak any day. Ruby ran towards her mother, shouting her name, and just as her mother turned around and parted her lips, Ruby was sucked out of the paradise, and woke up to hear the few words that would haunt her forever: "Ruby Rose's body is failing her, she will not live to see the next week."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: After

-Advanced Atlesian Medical Hospital

"What do you mean by that?" Qrow asked, did the nurse really just say what she did? "Unfortunate as it is, Mr. Branwen, Ruby's internal organs including her lungs and stomach have suffered severe trauma, and her spinal column has fractured, piercing other parts of her body including her heart, she was just barely revived, and we doubt that she will recover fully from this incident" the nurse concluded. At this, the atmosphere of the room darkened immensely, growing darker still as the nurse led them to where Ruby lay, who knew that the family needed to spend a while to process the information.

Yang wept openly, burying her head into her uncle and father's embrace, for they all knew just what the nurse was saying, and they would've kept going if it hadn't been for a weak but familiar squeaky voice breaking the somber silence. "Am I really going to die?" their heads all whipped around, Ruby lay at the bed, wires and pipes all over her body, scarred, but conscious with tears pooling at her eyes after hearing what the nurse said. The three were instantly at Ruby's side, with Tai ringing the bell for the nurse. The Schnees also came close behind, with Winter sputtering apologies to Ruby: "I'm so, so sorry…" Winter gasped.

Ruby didn't respond, as she was now looking wide eyed at where her right hand should've been: "where is my hand? W-w-why can't I feel my legs, why does it hurt to breathe?" the heart monitor started beeping faster, and a nurse quickly rushed in, urging Ruby to calm down, but how could she? She just heard that she would be dead at the end of the week, and the nurse saw no other choice but to tranquilize her.

Winter curled up and began sobbing further, seeing the normally cheerful and chipper Ruby have a panic attack did not help with her guilt. "This is all my fault, all my fault…" she kept silently repeating it, until she felt two hands on her shoulders. Looking up, she saw Qrow and Tai, who were still crying, but assured her that she could not have done better. The group spent the rest of the evening huddled together, with the nurses occasionally checking on Ruby, and they soon all drifted asleep, all except for Qrow, in his hand carrying a bottle of Chardonnay. He looked mournfully at the dark streets outside, and then left the room with a call to make, one that might just save Ruby's life.

* * *

-The Belladonna household

To say that today was stressful for Ghira Belladonna would be an understatement. If someone told them 2 days ago that their daughter would hand a young wolf Faunus a bomb disguised as a box in their name, and have it detonate in Schnee Manor, injuring the Faunus in the process and making headlines worldwide, he would've had the person checked for mental illnesses. But here they were, fending off reporter after reporter as their integrity was put on the line.

There was no question that it was Blake, the camera on one of the neighboring buildings had caught her face, but many people, Human and Faunus alike were confused by what happened on that very day. The official story is that Blake Belladonna came to Schnee Manor and left a box at the front gate, which was picked up by a young wolf Faunus who then picked it up, only to have it detonate as she opened it. The White Fang were unusually silent in this, which made the ordeal a lot more suspicious. Fortunately for the Belladonna patriarch, his resignation from the White Fang was public and documented, so it gave them more credibility when they told the reporters they had no part in it. However, the fact that their daughter had committed such an act in their name shook them deeply, Blake may not share their views but she was still their daughter.

* * *

-Unknown Street, Atlas

Blake looked blankly at the paper she held in her hands, written by the **_Atlesian Daily. _**she sat on a bench and read the paper with a hood on.

**_"White Fang commits terrorist attack on Schnee Manor, Daughter of the Belladonnas involved!"_**

_Many citizens of Atlas call for previous leaders of the White Fang to answer to the heinous acts committed by the now terrorist organization. At around 12:00 Atlesian Standard Time A bomb detonated in Schnee Manor, injuring a young wolf Faunus, who is in critical condition and on life support; authorities have used cameras to trace Blake Belladonna, daughter to the previous leaders of the once peaceful Fang, as the perpetrator. The Belladonna family has been cleared of blame, due to an apparent fallout in the family that separated them from Blake. The perpetrator has cat ears, black hair and amber eyes, with a height of approximately 120 cm, perpetrator also has a fair complexion and athletic build. If you see anyone who matches the description, Call the local authorities and keep quiet. _

Blake's hand shook, and ears fell on the paper. _It wasn't supposed to be like this_ she thought, _they didn't tell me there was a bomb inside, they didn't tell me that I was going to be bombing people!_, she felt used, a hot anger swirling with her sadness as she read the paper. Her eyes rested on the passage regarding a young wolf Faunus, and she gasped as she recollected the cheerful little girl who picked up her package. The floodgates broke open, and Blake wept openly, silently cursing the White Fang for making her do their dirty work for them, and braced herself as she continued reading.

She read to the part about her parents, and she had to take a break once again, crying onto the paper. _Would they want me as a daughter anymore?_ Blake wondered, her shame and guilt weighing down on her _Not anymore,_ Blake put down the paper, and started to make her way to the Atlesian Airship Service. The White Fang was not the cause she would be fighting for anymore, never again.

* * *

-Atlas Academy

General Ironwood looked out across the training rooms of Atlas Academy. It was here that new generations of men and women would begin the training to be soldiers and protectors of civilization. He sighed, casually taking in the sound of steel crashing against steel in the background.

His Scroll chose that exact moment to start ringing, startling the General, who had almost dozed off. He picked up the scroll, and his eyebrows went up at the image of a person he'd never would have expected to call him, Qrow Branwen. He and Qrow never mixed well, only the efforts of Tai and Summer would have them be able to sit and eat lunch together at times, they haven't spoken face to face in 3 years. He answered: "Qrow Branwen, what is it you seek from me today?" The response from Qrow surprised him: "General, is project NH4 ready for use?" judging by a few factors, the General deduced that something must have gone terribly wrong for Qrow to call him General instead of his preferred "Jimmy", and for Qrow to ask of project Ammonium, a project he had openly condemned.

"Qrow, what would cause you to ask of that project?" He picked up a sigh from the other end of the scroll. "It's Ruby, Summers kid. She's been horribly injured, bomb blew in her face, she's not gonna make it" the huntsman's voice cracked at the end "Please jimmy, if not for me, then for Ruby and Summer, you have to try and save her soul, the hospital has already written her off…"

Ironwood was silent, pondering all he had just heard, some memories of Summer popping up in his head.

_Ha! I shall defeat your Legendary Huntsman with my Giant Nevermore… wait no! My fearless soldiers!_

_Aw come on James, lighten up, Tai and I will get Qrow back for this, heck, we'll put him in a skirt!_

_Aw man that's so cool, where did you find that rock!? Make a wish and throw it into the pond!_

Ironwood thought some more, remembering the times Summer supported him when he had a fallout with his father, when she saved him on that day when he lost his arm. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and gave his answer: "It is indeed ready, but you need the consent of Tai if you want Ruby to be the first official candidate of Project NH4, I will inform the Staff of the Hospital about the situation around Ruby."

Qrow took a deep shuddering breath, relief coursing through his veins. A part of him condemned him for bending the knee to the General and letting him turn Ruby into an android, but he knew that General Ironwood was a good man and his Lead Scientist Richter Polendina shared that trait. He looked to his left and saw Tai stirring, and he braced himself for the conversation that would follow.

* * *

It's 2 AM in the morning, I am going nuts


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Finding a Home

Advanced Atlesian Medical Hospital

Yang woke up to two voices arguing outside, recognizing them as her dad and uncle. She quietly slipped out of the embrace of the still sleeping Schnee family. She paused right beside the door entrance, and listened.

"Tai… please… you have to understand, there is no other way."

"Don't give me that crap, there is always another way!"

"If there was another way we would've taken it without a second glance, but there is not, project NH4 (New Home For :) is the only credible choice, Professor (Doctor) Polendina is the best at his field for a reason. Tai, please, let them save Ruby."

"And condemn her to a fate worse than death? We don't know if this secret science project of Ironwood's truly works, we don't know if it can "support a human soul.""

"What other choice do we have? We can't just wait with Ruby's life at stake until we think we're ready"

Yang then realizes that she has been leaning too hard on the door, and it opens. She falls face flat on the ground, waking up the Schnee Family and startling the two arguing men. Qrow and Tai both try to compose themselves in front of the 7 year old, only to find themselves incapable of doing so. Heavily breathing, they look at Yang, who was starting to cry, and back at themselves, seeing how their argument had been overheard, and the damage they did with it. So they gather Yang in their arms, exchanging glances, an unspoken agreement flashing in their eyes, and dragged out the words that needed to be said.

"Yang, do you want to know how were gonna save Ruby?"

* * *

Atlas Military Base, #REDACTED

Professor (Doctor) Polendina hummed while he sat working on the newest model of Atlesian Knights. They would be dark brown in colour with red visors, with arms that would be able to transform into blades and gatling guns (bots from Black Trailer).

A buzz sounded from the door, and General Ironwood came in, with a face that Polendina dubbed: "important "

"Hello Richter, how are you today?"

"Oh, I'm fine, just finalizing the programming for the AK 130s, nothing much. However, you…" He paused with a knowing look on his old face "have _that look_ on your face, and you only come late in the night with _that look _on your face when you have something important to tell me about, so… General Ironwood, what news do you bring me?"

"A candidate for Project NH4." Ironwood stated, causing all gears in Richter Polendina's head to grind to a halt.

"Didn't you say that there were no people willing enough to volunteer their-"

"That has changed, you will find that there is now a family more than willing to allow you to do the transfer, it is a matter of life and death." Ironwood paused, a strange look in his eyes as he looked outside, perhaps it was sadness?

"Great Scott! Very well, I'm going to need measurements on the patient, for all the limbs and additional Faunus parts necessary, I going to need to call an assistant. Also, have a transport move the patient to the transfer area," The Professor (Doctor) quickly barked out orders, putting on his lab coat, dialing his assistant on his scroll: "Oobleck I need you at Laboratory 51, please make haste!" There was no time to lose, he had a life to save.

Atlesian Advanced Medical Hospital

Tai, Yang and Qrow watched Ruby get carted into the transport hover, they were then requested to board the hover themselves. The procedure of NH4 was as it was dubbed by Polendina: "Provide a _**N**_ew _**H**_ome _**For**_ people who do not have properly working bodies," and the Aura, the manifestation of one's soul, of the people closest to the patient were needed for his/her soul to feel at home.

Ruby once again, found herself in paradise, sitting on the green hill enjoying the breeze ruffling her ears. A spectral figure in a white cloak came and joined Ruby in sitting, drawing her into a hug. Ruby immediately hugged back, smiling, forgetting the world of pain she had just been as she drew in her mother's scent, a scent of roses just like hers, but with a bit of steel.

"Do you like it here Ruby?" Summer asked, gently patting her ears, they continued to stare into the distance.

"It's so beautiful here, you live here every day?" Ruby squeaks, earning a sad laugh from Summer.

"It is, but you cannot be with your family and friends down below."

"Then let me be with you mom, we could stargaze, a-and watch the sun set, can I? It hurts so much back there, please?"

Summer sighed once again: "Ruby, as much as I would love to have your company, there is something I need to show you…"

Summer waved with her hand, and a scene appeared in front of them. A man dressed in a strange white coat put her body into a chamber, with a strange looking ball on the other end of the room. The two were then linked together by wires, and the ball was turned on. Ruby saw her sister, dad and uncle all sitting around the small ball, their hands touching the ball. She suddenly felt a torrent of emotions from her family, begging her to return "Ruby, you still have a chance to return, please do, they need you," she felt the fear, sadness, guilt and concern her family had for her, the happiness, joy and laughter they had together, and then she turned to her mother, who was smiling with tears dripping from her eyes. The two embraced, and both parted with bittersweet smiles on their faces, and Ruby asked one last time:

"Mom, are you sure you want me to leave?"

She felt herself slipping out of Paradise, but not before hearing her mother's parting words: "Ruby, I will be here for longer than you can imagine, I am not going anywhere. So please Ruby, return to your family, tell Yang I said happy birthday. You won't see me again for many years but I promise you, I'll see you when the time comes…"

* * *

Qrow Tai and Yang listened as Oobleck and Polendina went over the procedure:

"This ball here is a contraption I have named SoulHome, a ball that can project and contain a soul. It contains a Gravity dust core which will keep all of Ruby's components connected together. In order for Ruby's soul to inhabit this ball, her body must be placed within close proximity of the SoulHome, effectively making it the first and most compelling choice for her, so she won't possess a table instead. Then, you must focus your Auras onto the ball; if many family members focus their love and memories onto the SoulHome then Ruby's own soul will be drawn to ball…" Oobleck took a breath, then continued: "the last step needed, is for Ruby's soul to leave her original body."

The group of three nodded, touching the orange sized metal sphere, and activated their Auras, one silent prayer being said as they all closed their eyes. _Come back to us Ruby…_

Yang thought of the time when she first saw Ruby, a wailing bundle in the final embrace of a dead Summer.

_"MOM…MOM! Uncle Qrow, why won't she wake up?"_

_"She's…gone dragon, she's no longer with us." Qrow walked out of the room, following a grief filled Tai._

_A loud wailing caught Yang's attention, and she looked over to see two wolf ears perk out of her mom's embrace. The baby kept nudging the rapidly cooling body of the mother, trying to find warmth from a body that no longer possessed such an ability, seeking attention from a corpse. Qrow and Tai came back to a sight that warmed and broke their hearts at the same time: Yang lay on Summer's lap, cradling Ruby and shushing Ruby with her finger as she rocked the baby slowly, in the shadow of their dead mother. Their mouths slowly twitched upwards amid all the tears, and they too went and embraced the children._

Ruby let out her last breath, a choked gasp, and the room was silent, waiting for the ball to get an Aura signature. Qrow and Tai started panicking, and Yang started crying as they waited a few moments without hearing a peep from the SoulHome. Oobleck started looking over the readings again, wondering if something indeed had gone wrong. But then, a whirring sound was heard, red lines began appearing on the ball and it began levitating, signifying the presence of a soul.

The scientists quickly ran and detached Ruby's body from the contraption, Oobleck and Polendina let out a deep sigh of relief, only to peer at the readings chart when they saw something unprecedented. It appeared that a silver light was softly coming out from the ball, and the power rating on the ball kept going up, slowly but surely. Oobleck then took notes on the chart and headed to the lab; they made a mental note to investigate more on this phenomenon, but first, they needed to let Ruby to speak to her family.

Ruby looked at the, mirror and saw her new "body," It was a metal ball slightly larger than her fist, with red markings all over it. She felt it was strange, being able to see in front and behind herself. A bunch of numbers popped up in the left corners of her vision, and other weird lines and a calendar appeared on the right side.

"**Wow**…" she said, voice electronic, but still with that squeaky tone. She saw Yang running up to meet her, and attempted to tackle her sister, only to realize that she didn't have her arms attached yet, resulting in a halfhearted bump on the cheek.

"Ruby can you hear me?" Yang asked as she held the ball that was now her sister close to her chest

"**Yeah sis, I can hear… you**." Ruby chirped, only to stop and trail off when she saw her original and lifeless body right beside her. Ruby slowly floated towards the corpse, feeling a pit forming in her stomach when she saw the state of her old flesh body. Ruby's right hand and left foot were missing, only bloody tourniquets at the end. Burns and bandages littered her broken and battered body, only stopping at her face. Her eyes were now open, but instead of a playful silver they were a sullen grey, clouding up as her old body grew cold. The lines on the ball darkened slightly, and Yang responded to this by hugging her once more. It felt strange, seeing your own body from a different angle, a body that looked dead to the world, yet living at the same time. She watched it for a while, unconsciously trying to move it, but she couldn't muster a twitch from her carcass. Ruby's mind chose this moment to produce the most random yet important thought to her: _Just how am I going to eat cookies now?_

While Ruby had been staring at her body with Yang, Qrow and Tai had been busy talking with the scientists responsible with saving Ruby's life:

"W-we can't thank you enough, Doctor. Polendina, we are forever in your debt." Tai's adrenaline was still lingering in his body from the recent events, causing his voice to be somewhat shaky.

"Gentleman, your thanks are music to my ears, but we do have more to discuss. Ruby must not tell others that she is indeed a robot, this Project is not illegal in Atlas, but the idea of putting someone's soul into another object is vehemently resisted in Vale, Vacuo and Mistral, so do keep quiet about this."

"Understood."

"Ruby's Soul now lives in a SoulHome v.2.2.3, a floating control system capable of levitating and attaching pieces to itself, with advanced computing abilities to help the user make quick calculations. The SoulHome's Gravity Dust Core has a lifetime of Half a year, before it needs to get replaced, but there are ways to extend the lifetime: you can add organic substances like leaves and let the SoulHome process it and turn it into Dust, or you could open the bottom carefully and add more gravity dust powder directly. Another thing I would like to address would be Ruby's body itself. Do you plan on installing regular day to day prosthetics to Ruby's SoulHome, or do you plan on getting her combat ready material?"

Qrow and Tai looked at each other, a knowing smile on their face, and answered: "Combat prosthetics. Ruby has always had dreams of being a Huntress, her first legible drawing was of Qrow beating up a Beowolf with his bare hands. We know that she would still love to be a Huntress."

"Alright, very well, I will be going to the lab to pick up the 3D printed head and torso of Ruby's new body, in the meantime, feel free to converse with Ruby, the SoulHome has a speaker built into it, I spared no expense when making it. It even has a built in telecommunication system for scrolls, in case you are in a place with no signal." The Professor (Doctor) walked out, leaving Qrow and Tai to deal with an anxious ball asking how she would be able to eat cookies. It felt brighter and warmer, even if it was cold and dark outside.

* * *

Vale, Police Station

Blake felt dizzy from all the events that just transpired in the last few sleepless days. She had ran to Vale, no longer associated with the White Fang, only to be chased by said group, who were asking her to join. She managed to escape the group, only to be caught by policemen who had been noted of her presence. _Out of the frying pan and into the fire_ she glumly thought as she had been handcuffed and led to the station. She had been fortunate enough to be questioned by a man who didn't clock her and say: "Faunus scum!" which led to her current predicament.

"Blake Belladonna, age 7, daughter to the former leaders of the White Fang, do you know why you're here?"

Blake visibly deflated, she knew that she had been seen on camera, and there was no escape.

"I didn't know…" she trailed off, still visible wilting under the inspector's gaze.

"Know what, Miss Belladonna?" the person asked, sipping from his mug and adjusting his strange glasses.

"I didn't know there was a bomb in there, I…" She stopped again reproachfully looking at the man.

"Do go on."

Blake was unable to hold back the flood of words from her mouth.

"They told me it was a package of importance, a gift from my parents to the Schnees, so I put it at the entrance and the there was this girl who picked it up after greeting me and then she happily grabbed it, and the next thing I knew there was a large explosion, and there was the smell of blood, mixed with the smell of that girl from earlier, so I ran to the White Fang base, then changed course because they used me! Used me for their own goals, to hurt others… to…" she broke down sobbing, covering her face with her cuffed hands, awaiting the judgement that would come from the man on the other side of the desk.

The man nodded, getting up and walking out the door, white hair illuminated by the light. Now outside of the glass room, he conversed with the local police chief, who had waited impatiently with his foot tapping.

"Well, did you get any answers from her?"

"Indeed, I have reached a conclusion from m conversation."

"Shall I throw her into a cell now?"

"That will not be necessary Robert, I see nothing but a youth who has been betrayed by her own cause, a girl who seeks justice. A perfect candidate for the role I need."

"What, even after all she has done? Property damage, attempted Murder?!" The chief did not agree with the silver haired man's decision.

"Yes, right now she is uncontrollably sobbing at the desk behind me. She has made no attempt to deny the fact that she is responsible for the incident, no doubt feeling guilty about it all."

"…Very well then, I will give you some papers to fill out, and then I will allow you to take her out of the station, but you had better keep an eye on her Ozpin." The police chief left with a huff.

Ozpin watched him go, and entered the room, where Blake sat still awaiting her judgement.

"Miss Belladonna, I have a proposition for you."

Her eyes perked up, and for Blake, this day would be the beginning of many days she would spend, fighting to bring the White fang to its knees, or back into the peaceful organization it once was.

* * *

Made some mistakes, had to edit, sorry. Spent 8 hours on this chapter


	5. Chapter 5

Note: Ruby connects all her parts thru gravity dust, which means if she loses a body part, she can recall it with her core. Also, her head and body we're attached off screen, making her a floating and living bust for the first part of chapter 5.

Chapter 5: Assembly

Atlesian Cybernetics Facility

Ruby floated beside Doctor Oobleck as he explained in an extremely fast pace just how she was supposed to attach the linbs to her torso, which was clothed in a sleeveless hospital gown to preserve some of her modesty. Her head and body had already been attached, with the SoulHome fitting securely in the chest compartment. Her robotic head and lupine ears followed the Doctor's rapid movements as he zipped around the 2 arms and legs that would make up her new body, as well as additional pieces that would give her a more lifelike touch:

"You see Miss Rose, your core consists of a high powered gravity dust core that is so powerful it has to be replaced at least twice a year in case it corrupts and implodes."

Ruby didn't like the sound of that, but she let him continue regardless

"Now, in order for you to attach your new limbs to the main body, you must activate the levitating ports on your torso, and scan the corresponding limb with your now robotic irises." He concluded, only to look to his right and see that Ruby was staring blankly at him. Oobleck then realized that Ruby was still only 5 years old and had no idea how to utilize the built programs in the SoulHome. He looked up, thinking for a moment, and then proceeded to simplify his words in a slower voice:

"Think about attaching your left arm, then look at your left arm with your eyes. If you do it correctly, you will see an indicator that says: ," he concluded with a finger on his glasses, adjusting them to rest on the bridge of his nose. Ruby nodded, and began thinking about attaching her left arm, she then looked at the arm lying on the floor, waiting…

"Miss Rose that is your right arm!" Oobleck stated, with some mirth in his eyes as the child snapped out of her stare and quickly adjusted her gaze to look at the correct arm. A light blue laser from Ruby's eyes scan the arms, and she sees the words at the bottom of her vision.

_attachLAexe… 50%...79%...99%...Complete_

Ruby's arm floats up slowly, clicking up to her left shoulder, other parts flying in to cover the gaps that would expose the joints. Ruby's ears twitch when she feels her arm, and moves it around, looking up and down at her new arm. It felt, right, and human to an extent. She then thinks about putting her right arm on, and looks at the arm on the floor, seeing the process go to completion a bit quicker than last time. Pleased with herself, she set up her legs in record time and started shakily walking, getting used to being on two legs again.

_attachRAexe… Complete_

_attachLLexe…Complete_

_attachRLexe…complete_

Ruby, now with all limbs attached, walked up to the mirror, and starts straightening out her messy hair. The synthetic strands may feel and look identical to normal hair, but they had never been bent before and because they were new strands some of them rested in awkward angles on her hair. Doctor Polendina briefly stated that it would take a while for the strands to adjust to their proper settings. Ruby also found that her ears were far more sensitive than they were when she was still a "being of flesh" as Oobleck put it. She could now hear every foot tap, every squeak as people made their way around the facility. She could hear Yang conversing with Tai upstairs, about surprising Ruby by patching up her cloak and giving it to her (Heh, and now she knew), she heard doctor Polendina excitedly talking to some woman, something about a breakthrough, she didn't know what was so important about a Penny, but she focused her ears elsewhere, on something much more interesting...

Qrow was sparring with General Ironwood, Sword clashing with Revolver. It had been a stressful week for both of them, Qrow had been occupied with Ruby, and Ironwood had been beset by the council, who were advocating for several Atlesian warships to be scrapped and recycled into new buildings. Both men grunted with exertion as they clashed again and again. Qrow backed off and shifted his Harbinger into scythe mode, opting for a more aggressive fighting style. Ironwood responded by bracing his prosthetic arm, which began glowing a faint red, most likely imbued by fire dust. Ruby unintentionally gained access to the security camera feed, giving her a clear view of the spar. Ruby was so enraptured with the scene that she didn't notice Yang sneaking up behind her. So when Yang suddenly said: "what's up Ruby?" she full on panicked and turned around, the loud voice reminding her of the explosion that nearly claimed her life. Her screen immediately filled up with all types of defense systems initiating.

_Ambush response::::: all systems functional_

_aegis…Online_

_vulcan2…Online_

_nebelwerfer…Online_

_gdrailgun…Online_

_dddhammer…Online_

Yang was sneaking up on Ruby. It was birthday yesterday, but she still liked to give presents to Ruby every now and then. She wasn't expecting Ruby to suddenly turn and have several weapons trained on her. Ruby visibly calmed down and started to store her weapons back in place, not before accidentally letting out a shot from the nebelwerfer. They both cringed when the missile screamed past them and hit the door of the lab, blowing a giant hole through the steel door, just as Doctor Polendina put his keycard to the scanner. Yang, seeing the mess they made, used all of the fanciest words she could muster to try and save themselves from whatever the doctor had in store for them:

"There is a perfectly sound and rational explanation for all of this…"

"Yes yes, I'm sure there is, but we need to get rid of Young miss Rose's body, before it starts to rot." He groused, preparing a gurney and setting Ruby's old body inside.

"I do believe that you would like to say your last goodbyes to this body before we cremate it."

They did say goodbye, watching as they burnt all live evidence of Ruby's organic nature. The family huddled as they saw the body go up into flames and turn into ashes. Nobody said a word, they didn't really have to, and nobody wanted to break the silence. They left the Crematory, holding a jar of ashes, but they smiled once more. It was a new day, and Ruby had indeed lived to see the next week.

* * *

Beacon Academy

Blake listened with rapt attention as Ozpin pointed out the basics of making an efficient weapon. She had been listening to the old man talk about fighting styles, pressure points and espionage tactics, the latter being explained further when Blake unlocked her semblance, the ability to make shadow clones to take blows for her. She had felt that it was just a reminder of how she had ran without taking the full responsibility of that incident from a few days ago. Ozpin reassured her, stating that there was still many things unknown to man about semblances, stating that the statement of a semblance resembling character was a threshold, all semblances could be developed further and could evolve into something much different.

Today, someone was coming over to help her train her fighting skills, and possibly build her weapon. She sat in silent apprehension, waiting for the person who would show up soon. Eventually, there was a ring at the door, and Ozpin greeted the person with a nod:

"Qrow, it is good to see you again, how is Ruby faring?"

"The kiddo is doing just fine Oz, she may twitch in fear from any exceptionally loud noises, but she's alive…" the man ended, smiling: "Now, which unfortunate soul am I training today?"

"Ah yes, Qrow, meet Blake Belladonna" Ozpin gestured, extending a hand to Blake. The man took a look, then did a double take, eyes wide. Blake suddenly connected the dots: The name of that young wolf Faunus was ruby, and this man was her relative, brace for impact. However, all the man did was turn to look at Ozpin with an "are you shitting me glance," who simply looked back with a knowing smile. Qrow closed his eyes, took a deep breath, saying "just my luck," under his breath before opening his eyes to look at Blake.

"Welp, my name is Qrow, and I will be your personal combat instructor for the day."

* * *

Legitimately thinking of inspector gadget when writing the first half.

Also, poor Qrow: his niece gets blown up by a weird box, and he gets over it just to find out that his boss hired the person who nearly killed his niece, small world eh?

aLSO, trolled me for 1 hour straight, if I wanted to put vulcan2. ...Online only the Online will show,causing all of the program phrases to disappear.


	6. Chapter 6

I do not own Roosterteeth, RWBY, or any of the characters that preside in it. I only write the story arranging them differently.

Chapter 6: Troubles and Thoughts.

Beacon Academy

Qrow found himself sitting on an armchair with many emotions bouncing around his head. Ozpin had stated that the girl Blake had indeed been the one who set off the bomb, but was not the one who planned event. He had told Qrow about her sob story, saying something along the lines of: "She felt remorse for her actions and made no attempt to deny them," which wasn't quite enough for Qrow, who had been worrying about losing his niece 72 hours ago. However, in the corner of his mind, lingered a thought. He saw himself inside of Blake, how he had been just as worried 20 years ago when Ozpin found out that Raven and he were from the Branwen Tribe, a notorious clan famous for clearing villages in mere seconds. He vividly remembers how shocked he was when Ozpin had offered him a new life, one as a huntsman. But even so, he would have never stayed here if it wasn't for his team and other companions along the way. He felt like it was his responsibility to train Blake to be better than he when he was at her age, maybe help her through some of the troubles he faced when betraying his cause. He sighed again, hoping Tai was faring better than he was.

* * *

Xiao Long/Rose Household, Patch

It turns out that Tai wasn't faring too well either.

He had returned to Patch with the two girls behind him, hoping for a peaceful walk home and a nap in bed. He had finally made it to his bed when he heard the whirring, and it all spiraled from that point. Turns out that being cooped up for 3-4 days in enclosed spaces with minimal movement was too much for Ruby, and now that he had enhanced limbs and newfound strength, she did the one thing he feared the most: frenzy.

He looked outside the window into the open space in the backyard and thanked the stars that he had the forethought to build this house here in the woods, it would have been too hard to explain the scene happening before his eyes. Yang had completely given up on trying to catch her and had chosen to simply watch instead.

Ruby ran, and then jumped, her gravity core allowing her to fly around with ease, all while shooting off all types of ammunition as she tried more and more of the weaponry in her new body. She tried tried to regain control of her bearings, but she lost control and ran smack dab into one of the young ash trees Tai had planted a decade ago. There was a large thud, and then an "IM OKAY" in the distance.

Tai breathed a sigh of relief, then remembered a specific conversation he had with Qrow ten years ago, regarding those trees he had planted:

"_These trees were pretty hard to plant" Tai breathed out, finally planting the last one in: "hopefully they stay up."_

_As soon as he said that, one of the ash trees caught fire and turned into ash, he turned around and saw Qrow drinking from his flask._

"_Dammit Qrow! That was my__ favourite__ one too!"_

"_Not anymore, but hey relax, the other trees are fine, and I'll leave em be, same thing can't be said for your future children though."_

"_My children will surely have the same touch for gardening as I do, and they certainly won't knock one of them over. You only knock them over because your superpower is literally bad luck."_

"_Heh, wanna bet?" Qrow said, smirking as one of the other ash trees fell over._

"_5000 lien?"_

"_1000 lien for each tree knocked over, gotta make it fair for you" Qrow grinned as yet another tree fell over._

"_You're on, now please leave before they all fall."_

Tai groaned, now he owes Qrow 1000 lien, which was not a lot of money, but Qrow would certainly tell Yang and Ruby about this, who in turn would tease him about this. He looked and squinted through the sun, and saw that ruby was trying to put the ash tree back up to a standing position, only to crush the tree with her arms, which could apply force equal to 10,000 psi when pushed to the limit. Tai quickly rushed over and took over the replanting process before Ruby, or Yang for that matter, shredded what was left of that poor ash tree.

* * *

Beacon Academy

"Swing with your left, and then parry with your right," Blake did as she was told, and swung her training foil at Qrow, then parried Qrow's with her right foil. This went on for several more minutes, until Qrow called for the training to end, and Blake collapsed with a grunt. They went for a drink of water and a quick snack for lunch. Blake took this moment to test the waters that lay beyond her with a simple question:

"Is she okay?"

Qrow tensed, and Blake instinctively flinched. She a felt safer when Qrow's posture relaxed and answered her question:

"Well, to answer your question, she needed prosthetics, nearly died and put us on edge." Qrow listed, leaving out information on Ruby being a robot, sensitive information after all. Seeing Blake shrink more than he thought humanly, or Faunusly possible, he put a hand on her shoulder, clearing his throat to get her attention: "but she's fine, Tai just messaged me moments ago about the physical state of the backyard." Qrow then decided it was his turn to ask Blake a question: "Do you want to talk to your parents?"

"You know them?" Blake had thought of connecting with them, but had been too afraid thinking of what they would say.

"Of course, now do you want to contact them?"

"Yes, but…what if they hate me, for causing the mess that I did?" Qrow frowned at that, and decided to give her some advice regarding that:

"Kid, I'm not forcing you do contact your parents now, but listen to what I have to say. I was in a position like you years ago, and unfortunately, I made the mistake of never contacting some other old pals of mine ever again after a conflict split us apart. I found myself at one of my friend's gravestone apologizing for my actions, for not keeping in contact, and coming to help them when they needed it." He paused, looking at Blake again before continuing:

"Blake, you love your mom and dad right?" he gets a nod. "Then you gotta protect them, even if your certain they won't love you back, keep your loved ones close Blake. Don't make the mistake I did and assume, always make sure, even if you find they hate you. It's better to be safe than sorry." They both sat in silence for a few moments, until Qrow broke the silence with a low chuckle: "Wow, only a few hours into training, and I'm already sharing important parts of my life, I must be getting soft."

It was silent again, and Blake made her choice: "May I use the scroll Mr. Branwen?"

"Don't call me Mr. Branwen, it reminds me of teaching people at Signal, call me Qrow."

"Okay Qrow." Blake dialed her home number, and waited.

* * *

White Fang Main HQ, Mistral

"Just what in the world were you imbeciles thinking?"

The White fang members who coordinated the bombing were facing the wrath of several senior White Fang members through a video call, and they had reason to be mad. The White Fang changed leadership, and their tactics changed from protesting for peace to directly freeing Faunus from mines with force, so when Adam and several others coordinated a bomb attack on a civilian area, backlash to the incident was understandably severe. Other organizations who hadn't decided to pull away when they first went to arms, like the Faunus Labour Union, were pulling their support away from the White Fang. The attack on Schnee Manor had become this week's hottest topic with 130 thousand shares.

"The White Fang's methods may have become one with more force but that does not give you reason to attack civilian areas, we only use force to liberate Faunus from the mines that hold them against their will. Now papers across the world have condemned us, calling us an extreme terrorist group bent on destruction, and that is not our goal. This is short sighted, reckless and foolish decision making that has ruined our image in front of other Faunus."

The video call was ended before Adam could respond, and Sienna Khan slouched down on her throne, drained after ranting for that long. When Ghira and Kali left the White Fang due to their decreasing popularity and a protest that had turned into a riot, Sienna was happy to take over and move the White Fang into a more aggressive stance, one that directly freed Faunus and sometimes Human miners from extremely decrepit and dangerous mines. Now, she understood just what Ghira and Kali said to her shortly before leaving the Fang:

"_Sienna, our methods are no longer supported by many of the White Fang, and you are our one of our most trusted advisors. We trust you to lead the White fang in our absence but please: Remember that if you fight, you fight for peace and equality, if the White Fang fight to satisfy their vengeance, then many other people who don't seek vengeance will far for your own actions. It only takes one action, one step for the organization to fall off the deep end. You don't just lead people who have peace as their top priorities, but bitter men and women who would like nothing more than humanity's downfall. We fear that freeing people from mines will only be the first step forward into downright bloodshed, before other members of the Fang find more brutal ways to sate their desires. Goodbye Sienna, and good luck with keeping the organization together, it is harder than trying to find equal ground with the most stubborn of humans."_

_Keep the organization together huh? _Sienna mused as she looked at the empty hall of the High Leader's room. The doors to the hall suddenly exploded, and gunshots filled the room, a coup d'etat was in progress, with Sienna as their target.

* * *

Xiao Long Household, Patch

"I hope you've realized the true extent of your actions young lady."

Ruby was sitting down on the couch, ears drooping in shame as Tai lectured her about property damage once more. She knew he was right about how tearing up the backyard and furniture was bad, but she couldn't help it. She had been stuck in a place that smelled like metal and medicine, for like half a week. She didn't mind if there was always a way for her to get out, but in those rooms everything was closed, not even a window could be used to escape. "I'm sorry dad…" She mumbled, looking down ears drooping and shoulders slouching. She then remembered a special technique Dr. Polendina had put in for her eyes:

"_I added a modification to your eyes, making them more powerful than ever."_

"_Oh, what can they do?"_

"_Basically if someone is mad at you and you need to get their attention, simply act really sad, and droop your ears, then widen your eyes and look up at them, they will surely be defeated." The Professor grinned and left to get some coffee. Ruby heard him mumbling under his breath: "Tai's not going to stand a chance. Heheheh…" _

She looked up, with her ears drooping and widened her eyes, just as Tai looked back.

_puppy_eyes-Online _

Ruby's eyes became even wider than before, with sparkles appearing over her irises and moisture collecting at the corners as she used her eyes on her father. Tai faltered, looking at Ruby's shining eyes almost to tears, and was immediately struck. Yang would later state that Tai went and had a talk with the professor about something called the "Vytal Conventions," saying the word **superweapon** every now and then.

Belladonna Household

Ghira and Kali Belladonna were anxiously pacing in their Manor. The news on the White Fang had been worrying, with Sienna condemning the actions of the Atlas branch of the organization, and then learning that said group had a referendum to separate from the White Fang, only staying in the movement by 14 seats, 57 to 43, when they had contacted Sienna, she did not pick up, which was strange, because as High Leader of the White Fang, all you did was sit down at a chair and discuss current problems with other senior members, and that itself didn't happen often. None of these news gave them as much grey hair as the worst news of all: Blake had gone missing. Adam had contacted them, saying that Blake failed to make it back to the rendezvous point after the incident. They contacted Ilia, who was in the Vale Branch, and the answer they got was much worse: Blake had been arrested. Several calls to the station were unanswered due to an apparent power outage at that sector. Ghira was preparing himself to fly to Vale when he heard his phone ring, the caller was Qrow Branwen, an old contact he met with from time to time. He picked up the call, and answered: hello Qrow, do you bring news of Blake? Qrow new a lot of things around the underworld, if anyone knew where and how Blake was, it was him. Instead of hearing the gruff scratchy voice, he heard a soft and smaller voice:

"Dad?"

Ghira nearly dropped his scroll, beckoning Kali with his hand as he funbled with the device.

"Blake, how are you? Are you okay?"

"Y-Yeah, I'm okay."

"You're using Qrow's scroll, what happened Blake?" Had Qrow apprehended Blake?

"Well, I got arrested, and some man called Ozpin managed to bail me out with a condition to work for him, Qrow's been training me basic martial arts."

"Blake sweetie? Are you hurt in any way?" it was Kali's turn to ask.

"Nono, I'm fine, I…confessed to the officer, and apparently my story of being deceived by the White Fang matched up with other testimonies, including yours, so I'm not going to be sentenced to live 10 years in jail."

"Thank goodness, we we're so worried!" there was silence on the phone, and the parents were confused on why she apparently hung up until she spoke again:

"Why aren't you mad at me? I planted a bomb at someone's house, w-with your name? I tarnished the reputation of the White Fang! People got hurt!" Blake sounded close to crying on the other end of the phone.

Ghira chose this moment to activate the video call option, and they saw Blake with tears running on her face, with a somewhat awkward Qrow in the background. He and Kali both smiled each other and consoled Blake:

"Blake, we knew that you didn't have the ill will to hurt someone like that, we were told by an old contact of ours in the White Fang that a bunch of lower white fang Members planned a bombing with you as the unsuspecting planter of the bomb. We knew that it wasn't you, and we would never hate you Blake. However, is the person caught in the blast okay? From what we heard it's bad."

Qrow chose this moment to speak up: "My niece is fine, though she did lose some limbs and doesn't sleep much anymore, but I don't blame Blake over here."

"Oh, that is certainly the development, well, There are people at the door and we might not be able to hold this conversation any longer. Goodbye Qrow, please take care of Blake, and Blake, we love you, goodbye."

* * *

Beacon academy

Blake let out a sigh of relief, a weight dropping from her shoulders, she looked up in gratitude at Qrow. Qrow smiled down at her, and then shifted into his best staff sergeant imitation: "Alright now, break time is over, get ready Belladonna we're going weight lifting! He shouted, lifting Blake and walking towards her doom.

Needless to say, Blake would not be resting for a long time.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Unrest

White Fang HQ, Mistral

Sienna ducked as a shotgun slug howled right above her head, she quickly ducked behind her throne and pulled out her dust chain whip, activating the lightning dust variation as more bullets began pouring in. Loyalist battled Insurgent as the Headquarters of the White Fang became filled with smoke and blood, bullets and dust flying all over the room. More loyalists poured in from the back entrance, one of them carrying a sniper rifle, and began shooting at the people too close to the throne. Sienna sprang into action, whirling the chain whip overhead, following up with swinging it left and right, carving into the insurgents, each hit shocking them. The battle seemed to be in her favour as more and more Insurgents fled as they found that they were losing more and more members to the well trained personal guards of Sienna.

The room was silent once more as the last of them fled, and Sienna limped back to her throne, having taken a hit to her leg. She silently thanked Kali for having the back of her throne layered in iron, ridiculous as it sounded, it worked out in the end when it took a few bullets meant for her. Her tiger ears perked up again, as did her personal guard as shouts came from outside of the door. Sienna grimaced, realizing that the real attack had yet to come. She got up out of her throne again, and pulled out her chain whip, switching it to fire, she was fighting to kill this time.

* * *

Xiao Long Household, Patch

The day had started poorly.

Yang woke up to the sound of Ruby sniffling in her sleep. Ruby no longer needed to actually sleep due to the fact that her new "brain" did not need to rest and repair, but the idea staying up for twelve hours was a very boring prospect, so she decided to sleep. Yang watched on has her little sister tossed and turned, waving her arms out as she shielded herself from an unknown threat.

She couldn't take watching Ruby silently suffering in her sleep, and got off her bed, making her way slowly towards Ruby's bed. "Ruby wake up," she whispered, shaking her slightly to shake her out of the nightmare she was having. Ruby woke up with a start, ears twitching rapidly as she tried to remember where she was. She calmed down when she saw Yang to her right, quickly enveloping her in a hug. She cried into Yang's shoulder, blubbering about how she kept reliving that day when the explosion nearly claimed her life, asking why there would be people who would do such a thing.

The elder sister listened to the younger cry, struggling to keep a straight face herself. She heard stories from her father about how villains would be large and boastful, always taking the hero head on in a fight, but she was confused not, confused by the fact that the one who nearly killed Ruby was another girl herself. Looking at the crying android before her, she made a promise to find the one who did this to her, if she did find that girl Blake, then she'd better have Qrow protecting her, because she hurt Ruby, mentally and physically, and she had made a promise to keep Ruby safe.

Ruby made her way down for breakfast with Yang. Spring break was almost over and Ruby had to get ready for her first year of school . Tai greeted them, with Bacon and eggs sizzling on the pan, the scent gaining Ruby's attention. Tai laughed as Ruby sniffed the air and started moving towards the pan at a faster pace, determined to have a sample of the delicious food Tai had cooked (his noodles were still overcooked). Dr. Polendina had told the family of four that Ruby was still capable of eating food, but her method of disposing of it had been kept secret, the man had only told them that it wasn't very subtle.

Qrow appeared at the doorway, grinning as his two nieces ran towards him to greet him. He ruffled Ruby's ears while smiling at Yang, who knew the meaning of the silent message and began to tickle Ruby. It seems that Doctor Polendina had future-sight, because as soon as her fingers met Ruby's side, Ruby had crumpled onto the ground clutching her sides in mock fear. Her last coherent words were "help me!" before she was beset by both Qrow and Tai, only stopping until she cried uncle. It warmed Tai's heart as Qrow kneeled down and played along with Ruby and Yang, knowing that of all the things Qrow did, this was the one thing he enjoyed the most. They seated themselves around the table and ate, table silent as they all stuffed themselves full of food. They finished eating, and then watched Ruby, waiting to see what would happen.

Ruby hiccupped, ears perking up, and sneezed out a cloud of spent gravity dust, sitting still with an unreadable face. Everyone was silent for a few moments, until Yang burst out laughing, soon followed by everyone else. Everyone calmed down, only to realize that only one person had not laughed. Ruby sat wide eyed, the smell of dust once again triggering bad memories. Tai realized this, and he quickly went up to Ruby and wrapped her in an embrace, with yang close behind. This seemed to wake Ruby up, and she smiled and hugged back. Qrow looked at this scene, heart twisting in sadness. He signaled Qrow, whispering "we need to talk" in his ear. The two went upstairs, as Yang lead Ruby to the yard to take her mind off those horrible memories.

"Tai, I have to tell you something."

Qrow knew that a talk like this would happen soon, so he hoped for the best and told Tai:

"Old Oz has given me a new pupil, but… it's very complicated."

"How complicated Qrow, is it Raven level complicated?" Tai asked, mentioning the wife that left him 7 years ago.

"Not to that level, but pretty bad. Look umm… the new pupil, well her name is Blake."

"…Can you run that by me again, did you just say Blake, as in Blake Belladonna?"

"…Yes. She didn't know the bomb was in the box, and she certainly did not bear ill will against us. Apparently some members of the Fang decided that they didn't want to do the bombing themselves, so they used some small kid instead."

"Well shit Qrow, this is indeed very, very complicated. How are we gonna break the news to Ruby?"

Qrow had been thinking about that for the past few days, and he had an answer, it was one he didn't like, but it was the best he could think of.

"We wait for Ruby to seek us to ask us what happened on that day, or… we go up to Ruby and tell her up front, and risk Yang being extremely mad at me for not pounding Blake into the ground, cause I heard what she was saying in her room when I was flying by."

"I feel we should talk about this event as a family as soon as possible, it only gets worse if Ruby holds in how she feels." Tai's scroll rang, and the two looked at the caller ID, it was Hivern. Tai accepted the video call, and Hivern came into view.

"Hello Tai, how are you? It's been a busy week for us with security tightening around the premises, and we wanted to know how Ruby is doing." The Schnees had been informed about Ruby's survival, but they had been in the dark about Ruby fared afterwards. Tai took the scroll and opened the window to the backyard. In the backyard, bushes were getting beaten senseless with Yang and Ruby. They were playing a complex from of tag that required hiding in the shrubbery. Ruby would jump into a bush, only to run out to hide in another one as Yang soon followed, flattening many of the wild bushes in the yard.

"She is physically fine, the process went smoothly, but she wakes up during the middle of the night from nightmares the doctors say she has mild PTSD, so not completely AOK, but going there."

"She looks pretty life like, if I didn't know any better she came out of that explosion completely unscathed." Tai nodded in agreement

"Anything else on your mind Hivern?"

"Well yes… it's Winter. She has been silently blaming herself for all of this mess, and it's taken a toll on her. She had aspirations of becoming an Atlas specialist, but now she feels incapable of doing such work, and I'm not sure how to help her, and Jacques fears that he'll be too direct with Winter."

"Tell her that's absurd. I would also spend more time with her and maybe get Ruby to talk to her. You could also tell her some stories of you not doing something right but learning from it in the end. Use that old saying that goes around, I think it was uh…"

"Atlas wasn't built in a day, thanks Tai, for the advice. Do you mind if you called up Ruby for a second?"

"I don't mind, Hey Ruby!" He called out, seeing Ruby per up from a bush, only to get pounced on by Yang: "Aunt Hivern wants to see you." As Ruby ran for the house, he saw Winter seated near Hivern, with a subdued look. Ruby came up, and greeted Winter with a normal Ruby greeting.

"Hi Winter!"

"Hello Ruby, it's good to see that you are in fine condition." Winter sat tight lipped staring down.

"Winter, why do you look like that?"

"It's because…I'm the reason you got hurt, I tried to put up a repulsion glyph but it ended up being a suppression glyph, which trapped both of us to the bomb."

"Um…what?" Ruby didn't quite catch what Winter said, it was too jumbled for her to piece together.

"I got you hurt, almost killed, because I thought I was able to handle the situation better than an adult, Ruby, I want to apologize for putting your life in danger."

"But you're okay right? Did you get hurt?" Winter was caught off guard.

"Well yes I'm fine, but, you should be mad at me for-"Ruby cut in, and spoke with the maturity of someone ten years her senior.

"Nope" Ruby said, popping the p.

"What? But-"

"Nope, I'm not mad at you. You didn't hurt me, you tried to protect me, and that's what matters." She ended with her best Tai imitation voice.

It was now Tai's turn to console Winter: "Winter, don't beat yourself up about this. Nobody learns without making mistakes, unless you were perfect, but nobody is." Winter began to look up at him with the eyes of a pupil when their master praises them. "I believe that you'll make a fantastic specialist Winter. You unlocked your semblance at a very young age, younger than your mother or I for that matter. You learned how to wield a sabre at the same time as well, to the point where you could easily go to signal as a first year. Don't let failure stop you, it's only one step in front of learning."

Winter was elated that she had been praised by an elite huntsman and also happy that Ruby had forgiven her. She smiled with tears in her eyes, and looked up to her mother, who smiled back.

"I guess that's it for today's video chat, I have a PR Meeting to go to." Hivern got up from her seat, with winter following her. "Goodbye Tai."

"Perhaps you mean GoodTai?" Hivern and Qrow, who was perched at the window in his corvid form, cringed and both made haste to escape with Tai's laughter ringing in their ears.

* * *

White Fang HQ, Mistral

Sienna sat on her throne, dead and defeated traitors surrounding her. A medic tended to her injured legs as the wounded and deceased were carted out. Sienna looked down the hall, chain whip clutched in her hand in case someone else dared to attack. It had been a very physically taxing day, and Sienna knew that the next few days would not be spent here, but in a safe house south of the main HQ, it was too risky to stay here, with hundreds of people who were either with her or against her.

_The days of unrest have begun, fighting the actual battle is one half, and the other half is ratting out the traitors. This is going to suck, a lot. _She slumped in her seat and groaned into her hands, ignoring the angry medic who was telling her not to shift in her seat.

* * *

Winter is 9 at this point in time, and ruby will be turning 6 in half a year. Yang is 8 and Weiss is 7.

Updates will slow down to one a week as the new school term starts, but I am not going into hiatus, until next time


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Adjustments

Xiao Long/Rose Household

"Make sure you don't tell anyone about your robotics Ruby!"

"Yes Dad, I can't tell anyone about it, I should cover my nose when I sneeze, and I can't use any of my limbs to beat others in games, got it dad."

It was the first day of school for Ruby, and the 5 year old (soon to be 6) was now getting ready for the first grade. She put on her red sneakers and black blouse, hiding any evidence of her prosthesis. Other measures were also taken to prevent her from exposing herself as an android, including a call to Professor (DOCTOR!) Polendina on how to lengthen the dust conversion cycle to prevent her from sneezing clouds of dust shortly after eating. The little wolf Faunus now stood ready at the door with Yang by her side, and with one final goodbye to Tai and Qrow, set out to Little Patch Elementary.

The school was a small brown building with a gently sloped roof, with a playground and grass field right outside. Many other children were there, some clinging to their mothers and saying goodbye, while others chattered excitedly to one another. Yang looked around the crowd and suddenly grabbed a very surprised Ruby by the hand, running off towards some of her friends.

"Hey Yang, is that your sister?"

"You know it, Ruby say hello to my good pals."

Ruby was immediately swarmed by Yang's friends, while she was happy that Yang had a lot of friends, she was taken off guard by how they squealed when they saw her.

"Yang, she's so cute!"

"Look at those little wolf ears and silver eyes!"

Ruby was saved by the school bell, ringing loudly from within the school to tell children it was time for school to begin. The others quickly moved around Yang and charged into the school with Yang apologizing to Ruby in the distance. Ruby quickly shook herself out of her trance and began to run into the building herself. Wondering what else the day had in store for her.

* * *

Beacon Academy

Blake woke up from her bed within the teacher's faculty room. Ozpin had been gracious enough to allow Blake to sleep there, and it was very, very comfy. She listened idly to the sounds of students from all over Vale heading towards the academy, preparing for the training that would make them the protectors of humanity. Life was good in Blake's opinion. She no longer had wanted posters across all four kingdoms, courtesy to Ozpin, and she had a direct phone line to her parents. Qrow came into the teacher's lounge more drunk than usual, chatting with a portly man with a bushy moustache. They conversed for a good five minutes, sharing stories until the man, named Port apparently, checked the clock on the wall and began rushing towards his class. Blake then took notice of the books between her arms and paled. _Grade 3-4 Arithmetic _was held in Qrow's left arm, along with several other heavy hardcover books. Qrow saw Blake's face, and smirked, as one of the best teacher in Signal, according to his old students, he would school Blake without mercy. He suddenly frowned at the thought:

_That could be taken out of context._

* * *

Little Patch Elementary

First Grade was officially the most over exaggerated thing Ruby had ever heard. Yang had told her plenty of horror stories of trying to figure out what addition meant, and why there was a cross with a 2 and a 7. Ruby deduced that it was because of her mystical "Xiao Long genes," as her father had claimed, and the random numbers popping up at the edge of her vision, which were coincidentally the right answers. Yang balked at this when she had told her this at recess, and for some weird reason asked her to do her homework for her, which surprised Ruby even more. If homework was so easy, why didn't Yang do it herself? That question would be answered later, right now, she was going to teach people how to play tag the predatory way. Being a wolf Faunus granted her extra speed and stamina, and her robotic body boosted it even further, which is why she left to join Yang and her friends at tag, leaving a pile of traumatized first graders behind her, one of the supervisors nursing his aching ribs from laughter.

Yang's friends welcomed the little Faunus to their merry band, but before they could get a game of tag stared of, the bell rang, and the group cooed at how Ruby's ears went from being perked up to drooping flat against her head. Little did they know how close they came to being utterly crushed by a ditzy 5 year old.

* * *

White Fang HQ, Mistral

Sienna groaned into her hands for the umpteenth time that day. The separatists had left in the night, the guards at the entrance of many areas of the base included. Not only had Sienna lost a sizable bulk of her supporters, but the deserters also took all the equipment they could with them, including a power generator, which meant that a part of the HQ now no longer had power. A movement like this was unprecedented, and now Sienna had to juggle current operations of the White Fang and fighting the separatists. Many of the White Fang at the base were demoralized, the unity they believed in had been broken by their brothers and sisters of the White Fang.

"How many are left in the base?" Sienna questioned Yuma, ears twitching with irritation.

"Approximately 80% of the Fang remain here, Leader Khan, we await your orders."

Sienna put the palms of her hand together and sighed. It may not have seemed like a large number, but some of those who had left were senior members who could possibly persuade others to join.

"Tell some of our best trackers to trace where the deserters have gone, we have one more threat to deal with now."

* * *

XiaoLong-Rose Household

Ruby said goodbye to all of Yang's friends, who returned the gesture to Yang and herself. Today had been a fun day for Ruby, she trounced kids in tag, learned about addition, and found new friends. She excitedly chattered with Yang as they walked home, waving her arms around animatedly. They made their way home to the cottage, and were welcomed home by Tai.

Yang got inside and quickly invited Ruby to her room to help her with her division. After a brief rundown by Tai on how to do division, Yang cackled with glee when Ruby finished all of the work for her, only to realize that they had a quiz on the topic in a few days. Yang quickly rushed over to Tai and asked him how division truly works.

While her sister was doing that, Ruby caught a strange scent. The scent was of someone she met a few days ago, but it was so faint that she could barely tell whose it was. She focused on mapping out all the smells, and found that there was a scent of a cat Faunus. She recognized the scent, it was the scent of the cat Faunus that planted the bomb Intrigued, the followed the faint but distinct scent to its origin, which happened to be one of Uncle Qrow's shirts, she made a mental note to ask him later.

As if on cue, Qrow showed up at the doorway, nursing a cup of a strong smell drink in his hand, the smell even more evident on his body. He descended into the usual halfhearted bickering between Tai while ruffling Yang's hair, tipsy from an intake of alcohol that was evidently higher than usual.

Ruby made a beeline for Qrow, confused on why he had that scent:

"Uncle Qrow, why do you smell like that girl from the bombing?" Ruby did not need to be a cybernetic wolf Faunus to see the widening of Qrow's eyes, but she did smell sweat coming from her uncle as soon as she mentioned it. She then noticed the books tucked under his left arm, and recognized them as teaching books. Her mind connected the dots, and her eyes narrowed accusingly:

"Why are you spending time with her? Why are you teaching her things, shouldn't she be in jail, like all the other bad people?"

She whirled around before Qrow could give an answer, and Yang quickly rushed after her, taking one more glance at Qrow before taking off to calm Ruby down. Qrow looked at Tai, and they knew that the time had come for them to tell the two sisters about Blake.

Ruby paced around her room furious with her lupine ears turning in every direction. The source of all her pain, all her nightmares, under her nose the entire time, and Uncle Qrow was spending time with her and teaching her things? _Why?_ Ruby kept pacing around the room, getting more agitated the more she thought about that girl. There was a knock, and despite all the voices in her head screaming for her to leave it locked, she went up and opened the door.

Yang, Taiyang and Qrow all stood at the entrance, with the latter looking nervous and the eventual talk that would follow. The family quickly sat around in the four chairs in Ruby's room, surrounding the bed. It was Tai who broke the silence:

"Ruby, I want you to understand that the girl Blake is not a bad person…she didn't know there was a bomb inside of that box."

"Then why did she run away? The police would've given her a chance." Ruby did not get why they were trying to defend this Blake girl, but if her uncle and father were giving her a chance, then she would too, after a series of intense questioning.

"She was scared Ruby, she knew that you got injured, so she shouldn't stay in Atlas. The police in Atlas, well, they don't really see Faunus the way they do."

"Why would they? Police are supposed to view everyone as he same right?"

"It's not that simple to understand. There are many people in Atlas who don't get along very well with Faunus, people who believe they're less animalistic, which is true sometimes but mostly unproved."

"But Winter, Weiss and Whitley are nice."

"They are, but they are some of the few of the many others who wouldn't even consider glancing at you twice. People don't need a reason to be evil, while others may not be evil and do things unintentionally to you. That's just how the world works"

Ruby was silent after that. She was still mad at Blake for blowing her up and giving her nightmares, but her dad and Uncle Qrow had never had the heart to lie to her before, and she trusted them with her little heart. Ruby's shoulders sagged in silent acceptance, nodding slowly as she processed the information.

"Can you bring me to her on the weekend for me to meet her?"

"Are you sure pipsqueak?" Qrow was worried that Ruby would have a meltdown when meeting with Blake.

"…Yes, I want to talk to her."

"If that's the case, then please promise that you won't attack her or try to hurt her. It may not seem like Blake is sad about anything, but she was crying waterfalls about you when we first found her, alright kiddo?"

"…Okay"

* * *

Beacon Academy

Blake was woken up in the morning by Qrow, it was Tuesday.

_It's also been 4 weeks since I nearly bombed someone to death_ she thought grimly. Qrow stood over her with an unreadable look on his face, urging her to get up. Blake got up and heard a mutter that sounded suspiciously like: "she's gonna have to prepare herself." She must have been staring, because Qrow looked her in the eyes and spoke slowly:

"Ruby's going to visit you in a few days, prepare yourself."

* * *

White Fang HQ, Mistral

Sienna looked over the reports that her trackers had sent. There were multiple attempts from the deserters to erase their tracks, but the trail was still clear, they were making a beeline towards Atlas. Sienna pursed her lips and motioned for the direct line to the pocket bases of the Mistral Branch, they needed to make their move before the rogue members attacked Atlas:

"Brother Albain, have your garrison be geared up and prepared for combat, there will be conflict tonight."


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9: Uncertainty

Beacon Academy

Ruby looked at the city of Vale, a swath of small buildings gradually growing taller, with Beacon Academy at the center, a shimmering tower among a sea of buildings. She looked out the window and saw that Patch was only a small clump of green among a shimmering blue sea. Yang sat next to her, also looking out the window. Tai sat holding a sleeping Zwei, watching as the tower drew closer and closer, knowing that today would not be normal.

Blake sat down on the bed, hands on her head as she thought about the meeting in a few hours. Ruby, according to Qrow, was a sweet person capable of rotting your teeth, but even that was not quite enough to calm the worst of Blake's fears. Who was she kidding, she blew up Ruby and gave her a traumatic experience, potentially life scarring, and now she was going to meet the cyborg wolf Faunus kid. She took a deep breath, and sought immediate fluid intake as she prepared for the inevitable.

Ruby's robotic irises widened in awe as she took in the large courtyard of Beacon. Every part of the academy screamed best of the best, from the large tracks for fitness and the gardens filled with all types of flowers. One place that caught Ruby's attention the most was the rose garden near the school entrance. Bees hummed lazily as they pollinated the roses of all shades and colours, humming to and fro each one. Ruby's attention was brought to the school entrance when a number of Beacon students ran out with weapons in hand. A familiar green haired professor led the group, speaking in a fast pace quick enough to put a rapper to shame. Ruby waved and called out, drawing the attention of the man as he passed by.

"Ah Miss Rose, how are you faring on this fine day?"

"Very good! What are you doing with these students?"

"Well Miss Rose, I am taking these young students to study the ruins in emerald forest, I'm hoping that by observing and paying attention to details in the masonry that they would learn more about the ancient world and have better perception, since they clearly weren't paying enough attention in class yesterday." He concluded, giving the side eye to some students who had the decency to look ashamed. He then zipped off, some students running to catch up and some slowly walking down the path, chatting to one of them looked at Ruby with haunted eyes, whispering: "He talks so fast," before limping away. Tai and Yang soon caught up to Ruby, and the three walked towards the shining beacon.

Ruby's nose detected Blake's scent, this time stronger than the strain of scent she found on Qrow's coat. Her eyes pointed to where her nose directed her, and she saw the Blake, the cat Faunus she saw on that fateful day, standing with Qrow. _She's shorter than Yang _was Ruby's first thought. Yang would normally reach Qrow's stomach, while Blake just barely reached Qrow's waist. Judging from Blake's face, she knew that they were coming.

Silence stretched between the two parties, glances were tossed left and right but no one spoke. Ruby was the first one to step forward, breaking the invisible boundary between them. She stepped up to Blake, noticing the flinch in her shoulders, she froze, uncertain of her next move, and sent Yang a look that said_ I don't know what to do help me!_ Yang frowned at this, seeing the tension between Ruby and had vowed to make the person who hurt Ruby pay, but this person, didn't quite seem like one who could hurt a fly, a thought mirrored by Ruby. "Let's get inside first, okay?" Tai's gentle voice cut into the storm of thoughts that Yang had, but not before Yang came up with the perfect way to resolve some of the anxiety.

* * *

Ruins of Fort Castle

Sienna felt that it was ironic, that the place of battle that would signify the turning point of the Faunus rights Revolution would be the place of battle for two different Faunus groups with different intentions for Humanity. Her forces moved in to intercept the enemy who had been making their way to Atlas and were increasing in number, based on collected data and intelligence she had received. Sienna did not like some of the people who lived in that floating city, but she did not want this splinter group to set it ablaze and instigate war, which would most definitely what they wanted, and what she did **NOT** want. The first shots rang out as her snipers hit the other snipers, giving clearance for her forces to charge. The sounds of guns blazing and swords clashing reached a crescendo as the two forces fought it out. Sienna stayed in the middle of her fighting forces, directing her comrades and watching out for snipers. Her forces pushed back the enemy, her heavier vehicles sheltering the infantry, and her superior firepower punishing enemies from afar. Victory was soon hers, the last enemy Faunus surrounded and held as she approached her.

"Why have you betrayed the White Fang? Did you really believe that you could outfight the larger and better equipped army of the loyal factions?"

"We didn't…that's why we were the decoy force, Atlas will burn tonight, and then we will gather forces and take the kingdoms one by one." And with that the Faunus drew her last breath, with Sienna looking on in horror. A distant boom rang out in the distance.

* * *

Beacon Academy

Yang ushered Ruby and Blake into one of the empty dorms that were unused for the school year. Ruby and Blake had been tiptoeing around each other without saying much, and Yang decided that had to change. So she did the one thing she enjoyed doing the most with Ruby: Pranking.

"Alright girls, here we are, this s now our secret prank room meet up!" Ruby looked mildly, and Blake was intrigued, it was a start!

"Blake, have you unlocked your semblance?"

"…Yes, its shadow clones, at least Qrow calls them shadow clones."

"Sweeeet! It's the perfect pranking semblance, and with us…" She held Ruby in a one armed hug "the ultimate pranking duo? We'll show people a true scare, maybe even Uncle Qrow Our plans have been further enhanced by Ruby's new trick, show us Ruby!" Ruby took a deep breath (not that she needed air or anything, but old habits die hard) and changed to a grey color, then invisible, which reminded Blake of Ilia. Blake, now somewhat more invested, joins the duo as they planned the newest prank. The time was right, Qrow and Tai were gone, and Beacon would soon find that itself being attacked in the most peculiar of ways.

Professor Port walked down the Beacon pathway, reminiscing his previous duels of grandeur and strife. As he walked past the statue of the huntsman and Beowulf, he noticed something very strange. Were his eyes failing him, or was that small girl always posing beside the statue. He took a closer look, confused by it all, only turning when a pebble hit his posterior. He looked around, not seeing anything out of the ordinary. He turned back to find the small girl gone, causing all of his glorious huntsman senses to tingle. He pulled out his axe, and at this point, had drawn a number of spectators from inside the dorms. Some of them joined him outside as he looked around, asking what he saw.

"_A ghost demon girl, capable of vanishing on a whim, be on your guard students." _Some of the students shook their heads, not believing a word. Suddenly, there was rustling in the bushes, and a pair of ears briefly appeared form the bushes. An eerie sound was heard, whirring and the occasional rustle causing the hackles to rise on many of the assembled people. The sound suddenly grew louder behind them, and the students and Port glanced behind them, glimpsing tattered cloth and humanoid shape floating in the air, devoid of legs. Port began to be concerned, telling the students to group up into groups of four and search the area, believing the creature to be a Geist Grimm. They saw a small blonde girl chasing a butterfly, only to be whisked up by an unseen force and carried into the bushes by an invisible force. Several people rushed out, looking into the bushes, only to find nothing present. Students began drawing their weapons and forming small circles everywhere, pointing their guns and swords at anything that moved.

Ozpin watched this scene with concealed mirth, Glynda Goodwitch beside him shaking her head in exasperation.

"Should I round up the prankers headmaster?"

"There's no need for that Glynda, those girls will be fine, and I will inform them that this was merely a training exercise."

"You find this amusing don't you?"

"Yes indeed Glynda, Yes indeed…"

They watched as Port told the students to stay alert, and began to run for their office. Ozpin turned on the heat vision cameras, and saw the culprits. Yang was hiding in one of the dorm rooms, window slightly open with a walkie talkie in hand. Blake moved skillfully and stealthily inside a fake bush, stopping whenever someone looked in that direction. Ruby was floating up in the air, dressed in tattered robes and painted red in some areas, with only her upper body present. All three of them moved to intercept Port, and even Glynda began to smile a tiny bit as they saw Port yelling at the air.

Port ran as fast as his legs could carry him as he ran towards Ozpin's office, a Geist Grimm was in Beacon, and the students were in danger. A shadow suddenly sprang up in front of him, startling the professor, he looked back to see the previous Geist appear for a moment. _TWO GEISTS?! _This was getting out of hand, now there were two of them!

Yang cackled with unrestrained glee and basked in her creativity and success. Ruby and Blake themselves were having fun being the Geists, they too found pleasure in scaring the portly man. The man took a deep breath, sighing, getting his heartbeat back to acceptable levels. Ruby and Blake chose this exact moment to pop up right in front of him, yelling "SURPRISE!"

"NOPE. Shutting down." Port collapsed onto the ground, unconscious. Ruby looked on in panic and checked his vitals, sighing in relief when her HUD told her all bodily functions were stable. They looked and saw Glynda rushing towards them, with several students tailing her, they had been caught.

Oops…

Port was carried off in a stretcher, still out cold from the surprise. The three perpetrators of the prank found themselves under the stern gaze of Glynda, and the unreadable face of Ozpin. Several of the students identified them as the "Geists" and decided to retire to their beds for the day, embarrassed that they had fallen into a trap consisting of 3 small children, even if one of them had advanced technologies that made it hard for them to find her. Tai and Qrow came back from a meeting concerning the rise of attacks on SDC supply depots, desperately praying that Beacon was still standing. They came back and saw a scene consisting of Ruby dressed in tattered robes without her legs present, colored in fake blood, a burning bush, Port unconscious in a stretcher, and a simultaneously vexed and amused Glynda. Blake, Ruby, and Yang exchanged glances, then booked it as soon as Glynda turned around. It would take approximately 30 people, one camera system, and half an hour to find Yang, and another 30 to find Blake and Ruby, who were huddled in one of the storage closets. Beacon was safe, but for how long?

* * *

SDC Manor, Atlas.

Weiss and Whitley we're sound asleep, sleeping in separate beds. Winter was preparing to go to bed, combing her hair and brushing her teeth. Hivern looked out the window of the Manor with Jacques, enjoying the view of the partially cloudy night sky and the shattered moon. They saw what appeared to be a flock of birds, which was strange, because the birds had recently left Atlas to fly south to Vale for the coming winter. Their eyes widened when flashes appeared from the flock, and the turrets in Atlas returned fire.

A Faunus woman gasps as her cloaking semblance runs out, they are no longer invisible. Atlesian turrets began shooting the bullheads out of the sky, their lasers making _poomf_ sounds as they fired. Seeing that they have lost the element of surprise, the lead group gives orders to hit important targets and run, seeing that Atlas would have to wait. Missiles and bullets fly form the bullheads and other airships, and then retreat, still firing, some being blown up by the turrets and the scrambled fighters in the air.

Jacques Schnee ran to his children's bedroom, yelling for them to wake up. Weiss and Whitley wail in confusion and terror as Jacques scoops them up, telling Winter to hurry as they run towards the shelter. Hivern is there already, opening the door for them, as they rush in with explosions sounding close, Jacques spies one of the bullheads straying from the main group and angling it's burning hull towards the Manor, guns firing and missiles blazing as it flies towards the ground. He notices a missile flying, right towards them. He rushes inside and seals the door, just in time to block the missile. Schnee Manor goes up in flames as the White Fang bullhead crashes into the large mansion, reducing a quarter of it to scrap.

It is Hell in Atlas.

* * *

:D

The Prank short was supposed to be published on April fools, but I forgot :p

I planned to plot rek Jacques, but my brain decided not to.


	10. Chapter 10

SUPRISE UPDATE

* * *

Chapter 10: Upgrade

SDC Manor, Hideout

Weiss woke up in the morning, finding herself looking up at a steel ceiling instead of the usual sky blue snowflake. She immediately recalled the events of the previous night, the explosions, rattling of machine guns, and the burning. The others are already awake, going to the restroom or brushing their teeth. Klein was making Whitley's bed, bags under his eyes as everyone went around preparing to leave the shelter. When the family walk outside, they notice that there are multiple plumes of smoke outside, the closest one right in front of them.

Schnee Manor was not completely razed down, but a few areas were in need of desperate repair, and looked like nothing but a prayer was keeping it together at the impact zone. Most of the fire has gone out, but a few areas we're still smoking and had to be contained to prevent it from spreading. Once white and spotless walls were charred, marred, and blackened, smoke rising from the middle of the Manor. Officers scrambled to the family, asking if they were alright, only appeased when Jacques told them they hid in their hideout and avoided the worst of the attack, others were not so lucky. The hit and run that the White Fang had done had not been as precise as the Fang had hoped, only a few industrial targets were hit by suicidal bullhead drivers, and the majority of the missiles had hit residential areas. A Faunus woman cried out for help as people rushed to remove a piece of a coffee shop that had trapped her, a boy stumbled around, wailing as he searched for his mother. A lone Atlesian flag stood in the middle of the carnage, flag waving proudly amid the chaos below. Fortunately for Atlas, the most of the other districts got away with light damage and small fires, with the Richer part of Atlas taking the most amount of damage. People ran around handing out flyers and newspapers, clamoring for people to read about the attack, even if they had recently experienced themselves. Most people busied themselves in the cleanup effort, either their own home or places that had people trapped.

The Schnees now stood inside their home, looking in awe at the damage inflicted upon the house by pieces of the ramming bullhead. A large engine crushed their grand piano, keys lying everywhere in the room like spent shells. They wasted no time searching for their most prized possessions, hoping that some of their best memories were not tainted by the burning night. Winter uncovered her two dual swords, shining in the metal box, bright as ever against the lights of her room. She carefully laid them back into the box, and went for the storage compartment of the mansion. She opened up a box, titled "Myrtenaster," covered in ornate silver bands and the Schnee snowflake. This world, the world of Remnant, was dangerous, and it was cruel as it was dangerous. Winter knew that Weiss was in great danger of being targeted, since she was one of the heirs to the corporation. She went up to her father and mother, and they nodded solemnly, they had hoped to give this to Weiss at a later age, but the recent events have shown just how vulnerable they were. It was time for Weiss to receive her weapon, Myrtenaster, a slim silver rapier with a revolver-like mechanism capable of storing dust, forged by one of the finest blacksmiths in Atlas. Winter gently beckoned Weiss back into a more intact part of their home. She knelt down, and opened up the box in front of her stunned sister. Weiss slowly picked up the rapier, flinching when her hands touched the cold handle, warming up for the first time in a few years. She put it back into the box, which her sister had put down, and embraced her.

* * *

White Fang HQ, Mistral

Sienna shouted out orders as Faunus milled around like ants, packing equipment into bullheads and trucks. Sienna knew that it was only a matter of time before the humans from Atlas would come, hell-bent on destroying the White Fang. Chances were that the Atlesian Council were not aware of the splinter cell, and the actions of said splinter cell would be traced to them. The other reason they packed up was because of the obvious trail some of the traitors had left that lead straight towards their base, and it was probably already picked up. What could not be carried away was burnt down, removing all evidence of the fang being at this mountainous stronghold. They left, destroying all trails of themselves and running off, retreating into the darkness as the sounds of warships were heard in the distance. Sienna looked on in sorrow from her bullhead. The organization's schedule was all off and bouncing off the wall from because of this betrayal, now they represented the will of the Faunus across the world.

* * *

Xiao Long/Rose Household

"For it is in passing that we achieve immortality. Through this, we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all. Infinite in distance and unbound by death, I release your soul, and by my shoulder, protect thee."

Ruby's body started glowing a crimson red, and she cheered as she felt the power radiating throughout her body. In the corner of her HUD she saw a new marker appeared, labeled "Aura." There was another victory in the family, though it would be more fitting to be called a pyrrhic victory due to the fact that another portion of their backyard's plants were reduced to ash, especially the rare Pyrrhana Plant. The kids had been play-fighting in the backyard again, until Ruby accidentally let loose with a vicious elbow to the stomach, the fist also grabed a few strands of hair. Yang's Aura protected her from any actually permanent damage, but she was ticked off. She brought he hands up and practically roared, and it wasn't until Ruby started hosing down the plants with her attached Ice Dust cannon arm did she notice that she had sprouted flames. However, with Ruby distracted, she got a cheap shot off and knocked Ruby's head deep into the ground, and followed up with her best recreation of a suplex she saw on TV. Long story short, they were messing around, Ruby hit Yang and damaged her glorious main, and she erupted. When Tai came over she tried her best to convince him that the squirming Ruby with her head driven in the ground was in fact a new plant, and that the backyard was totally not in flames. She looked back to see Tai cradling his head, somewhat dead inside.

Qrow chose this moment to appear, with Blake sitting on his shoulders. He had decided to bring Blake to see some of Tai's famed flower beds. They looked at the mostly pristine garden, with a corner either covered in ice dust courtesy of Ruby's Ice Dust Cannon, or black ash. They looked to their right and saw Ruby and Yang apologizing while consoling Tai, who was sitting on the ground with an unreadable look on his face. The man turned and saw Qrow, and narrowed his eyes as he halfheartedly growled at him:

"Qrow, when we took that bet years ago, you must have done something fierce to your semblance, was this part of your plan too, Branwen?"

"Ehh, nope, but it sure is fun as hell to watch. Besides, I teach at signal, and Yang is giving me enough hell for me to get my own flask with Yang labeled on it, good grief."

The group decided to head in the house in the time being, and gathered at the couch. Tai sat in the middle, with a much heavier Ruby in his lap. Qrow and Yang took their places beside him, with Blake resting on Qrow's lap. Tai opened the TV, and switched to the Vale News Channel. Lisa Lavender took up the screen, with **Attack on Atlas by White Fang **emblazoned on the bottom of the TV screen. A collective gasp was heard as Lisa began talking:

"_At around 11:00 PM Atlesian Standard Time, the White Fang, a once peaceful activist group, has gone rogue. About 2 months after they blew up a Faunus civilian at the gates of SDC Manor, they have gone and made a full scale attack on Atlas! _

_Fortunately, the Radar of the Atlesian Military command base detected them beforehand, and the terrorist's cloaking ran out halfway on their way to Atlas. The attackers were fended off, losing 129 confirmed vehicles and 5000 personnel. The Richer part of Atlas was hit the worst, resulting in around 400,000 lien in damage, and 400 wounded. There have been no confirmed deaths yet."_

The TV then began showing pictures of the incident. Blake looked uneasily at the screen. She looked to her left and saw an urn at the windowsill, with the name **RUBY ROSE **inscribed on it. She then looked back at the person whose name it belonged to and her family, thanking the gods that they were decent people, and that she wasn't being pummeled onto the ground.

Ruby looked at the carnage, ears flicking with unease at the smoke and destruction being displayed. Her left hand unconsciously twitches, and her eyes grow wider with each new scene. The others began to notice this, and envelope the distraught girl with a group hug, all except Blake.

Blake looked away at the family, too afraid to join the hug, lest she give Ruby some bad things to think about. She knew Ruby was no longer fully human, the floating and limb detachment spelling android in every way possible, urn on the windowsill being the ultimate confirmation. Tears started falling down, and she tried to stop them but before she knew she was wailing, and then she felt a hug. Looking up with tearful eyes, she saw Tai, blonde hair blocking out the ceiling light. Another yellow head popped up behind him, this time with lilac eyes instead of blue. Qrow joined up with the two, plopping an uneasy Ruby right beside her.

Ruby, unsure of how to proceed, decided to give Blake a hug, a slow and unsteady hug, but one nonetheless. Blake flinched, still crying, but slowly put her arms around Ruby. Ruby started to cry a little herself, although no tears came out. Blake had never looked closely to realize the full extent of Ruby's change. But now she could clearly see the lines that ran around her shoulder and neck, which was anything but natural. Ruby also did not smell like any Faunus, her scent carried a sharp and metallic tang instead of the usual scent of flesh. She realized that she had been caught staring when Ruby shifted back and started looking at her. Ruby suddenly understood what Blake was staring at, the places where her cybernetics linked up together.

"Is everything robotic?"

"Yes…"

"How does that work?"

"I don't know, it was kinda weird. I was talking to my mom in a grassy field," Blake winced, realizing that Ruby probably died for a moment, "but then I wake up as some sort of ball, and I eventually connected everything." Ruby finished, with a smile.

"Well Ruby, I'm sorry, end I'm glad you're okay-HRRK" Yang appeared behind them and squeezed them together in a tight hug.

Qrow and Tai looked down as the scroll on the coffee table rang. Tai picked up, and immediately frowned, signaling Qrow to go upstairs:

"Well kids, it's time to get ready for the night, please help Blake navigate our house, it's quite large after all."

A collective groan came in three different pitches, but the kids complied nonetheless. They quickly cleaned up the coffee table and went upstairs to shower.

Tai began to talk to the caller, which happened to be Jacques Schnee:

"Hello Jacques how are faring? I was about to call you."

"The manor has a bullhead shaped hole in it, but most of the other rooms still have operating AC, and none of us got hurt, we'll be fine."

"Thank the stars… so what is it you need Jackaboy?" A groan was heard from the other end of the phone, with some giggling that sounded like his children.

"Why must you keep remembering the most cheesiest of nicknames? I called you for help."

"Is something wrong, I mean besides the manor being wrecked and all?"

"It's our security, Our house may be equipped with state of the art droids and cameras, but that is not enough to prevent a skilled assassin from sneaking in and murdering everyone."

"So you want to hire a friend over to help guard you."

"Precisely."

"That… is a good idea, though it means we might have to get a babysitter for Ruby, you and I both know how that would end for said babysitter. Ruby was already crazy, but now she's crazy with superhuman strength and gun arms, not to mention invisibility.

"Hmm, would bringing Ruby to Schnee Manor work? Weiss could use the company, especially since Winter and her instructor will be doing a survival lesson in Vacuo."

"Normally I would say no to that, bringing a 6 year old to work, but Ruby is anything but normal, and is practically immortal, so I guess we could make that work, as long as you're willing to sacrifice a couch or two."

"A couch is very little compared to what we could lose without your help. Thank you so much Tai, I know that you will keep our family safe."

"Anything for an old friend, Jackaboy."

"Uuuugh, well goodbye Tai."

"GoodTai to you too."

*Click*

Tai chuckled as the flustered businessman hung up, putting the scroll on it's charger.

* * *

A line I could've put in, but did not to keep the story somewhat serious:

"Was this part of your plan too Qrowjo?"

Also, i realized that school does not start in Spring, so i changed it to fall in the first chapter, which works cause Ruby's canon birthday is October 31st. I also fixed a slight repeat mistake in Ch 2


	11. Chapter 11

I'm going to set a date for a basic benchmark to reference other parts of the story, the date for this chapter is AGW (After Great War) 71 December 10th (My birthday.)

* * *

Chapter 6: Arrangements…

Atlesian Cybernetics Facility

Doctor Polendina walked down the pathways of the facility, looking at the technological advances of the Atlesian science teams that had worked here for fifty years, creating droids and weapons that had defended Humanity. He walked on to the more recent creations and stopped at door #217, titled: NH4ndroid.

Richter opened the door, and walked inside the room, looking at the metal arms, legs and other body pieces that were arranged in an orderly fashion. He then opened up one of the drawers on the side, which revealed some yellow envelopes, all with his Signature on them. Searching through them, he finally found just what he wanted: "Ruby Rose, Project Report." He opened the package and quickly took his notebook and pen, jotting down the codes for certain types of recordings on android mannerisms.

Laughing: 00101000 10011100111111 10010111100000 10000000111111 10010111100000 00101001

Interest: 00101000 01111110 01011111 01011110 00101001

Crying: 110010100101 01011111 110010100101

Pain/Intense feeling: 00101000 00111011 10110100 111100001110 111010110110 10000010100 111100001110 111010110110 01100000 00101001

Thinking: 1101100000111110 1101110100010100

The recent successful transfer by Ruby has only strengthened the Professor to follow through with one of his oldest projects. But this time, he had a basic model to use to help him. He went up to another room linked to the Lab, and pressed the access card. The doors slid open, and the professor walked through, looking at the small research area around them that was only known to him and very trusted individuals. A small photo was located near the back of the room, one that displayed a younger Polendina and a woman with long copper, his wife. He had once been too occupied with his work, seeing raising children as a nuisance and they had attempted once to have a child, which came out stillborn, but now Sarah was dead, and he felt lonely, a vacuum in his heart longing to give out affection. Seeing that he had the necessary materials to work with, he began the first official step of Project PENNY, his baby girl.

* * *

SDC Manor, Atlas

Ruby sat with Weiss as they both did some math problems together, the branch being division, which they both excelled at. Weiss was a naturally gifted girl in terms of academics, and Ruby was an android with built in calculators. Tai and Qrow had been called by the administration of the school, who said that Ruby's scores in quizzes and tests in math were always perfect, and they were elevating the little genius to second grade, this was a blessing and a curse at the same time. Ruby now had a credible excuse for why it didn't look like she was growing at all, and it gave her the chance to have a class with yang next year. The bad part? Ruby was now the goody-two shoes **Faunus **of her grade, and some other older children decided that they did not like being one-upped by a younger Faunus, leading to an incident that came very close to revealing Ruby's prosthesis.

_Ruby was buzzing with delight as she walked out of the school doors for recess. She had answered all the questions right again in the recent math quiz, and had cheered with a smile at other students. Some of the other students who didn't score as well took her smile as a shit eating grin, and seethed as the young wolf skipped outside for recess. Ruby continued to walk until she saw what appeared to be a moving red dot near the pavement besides her. She pounced on the dot, only for it to retreat a bit further from her. She tried to follow it even further, running faster and faster as she followed it, until she ran into the person who was holding the laser, a couple of other boys behind him._

"_Huh, so that's the Faunus, that makes sense, no human being would've fallen for that laser pointer trick. She fell for it like my neighbor's dog." He scoffs to his entourage, pulling on Ruby's red tipped ears. There was no pain, but the feeling of having a soft appendage like an ear being squeezed was very uncomfortable. Ruby cried out, trying to dislodge the boy's hand from her soft ears. She grabbed the boy's hands and pushed out, hoping to get him to stop. What happened was a series of unfortunate events. Ruby, in panic, had not brought out her Aura and felt the ear beginning to tear. Ruby then used to much power in her hand again, which caused the boy's hand to be hit particularly hard against his face. The boy did not let go of her ear, and the amount of force the two of them we're exerting was enough to tear the tip of Ruby's left wolf ear clean off. The boy gasped in surprise, holding the piece of fur with shock and mild terror, and ran off with his boys behind them, ear left behind. They did not want to be the ones who had to explain why Ruby had lost the tip of her ear. Ruby stared at the piece of her ear in shock, picking it up slowly and trudging back to her class, the school bell not as loud as the ringing in her own ears. She looked at a nearby window and saw some sparks flying from the tip of her torn ear. _

She never did tell on them, opting to stay in sullen silence instead. The teacher had asked if she was alright, but she brushed her off, saying that it would get better. She had put on a baseball cap on to prevent people from seeing the sparks and had been excused from classes for the day to go to the doctors in case the "ear" got infected. Yang had asked her what happened, but quickly shut up when Ruby lifted her cap and displayed a torn left ear with sparks flying out. She realizes that she was lost in thought when Weiss begins poking her cheeks with a pencil eraser, drawing her out of her memories.

"Ruby, are you okay?"

"Sorry Weiss, I was just…thinking about things. I'm fine."

Weiss looked skeptically at her before she asked for her help on the challenge problem. Ruby did the problem, hoping to distract herself from her thoughts. Doctor Polendina showed up after a few minutes, holding a carbon copy of the ear that was damaged. He wore a concerned face when he saw Ruby doing questions like a depressed eleventh grade student.

"Why that frown on your face Ruby, you're going to become shriveled like a dried fruit!"

"Why do people hate my ears?"

This question stunned the professor, who mentally connected the dots when he saw the torn ear, which looked like it had been pulled instead of being cut or scraped. He breathed out loudly, motioning Ruby to sit beside him as he replaced the ear. Ruby does, and she detaches her ear so the professor can access it and put a new ear on.

"The situation is a complicated one child, one that has lasted many, many years. But be assured that you are not the first unfortunate soul who has been harmed by this long standing hatred, but I must say, things are twice as violent as they were a few years ago, and it is unfortunate when they get kids like you hurt in the process."

Ruby opens her mouth, but Professor Polendina motions for her to hold her thoughts in for a moment longer. He finally gets the new ear in order, and it gravitates and fixes itself to Ruby's head once more.

"Some Humans have always had a fear of the unknown, and nobody knows how the Faunus came to Remnant."

Weiss had also stopped listening, in favour of hearing the old man tell a story.

"Nobody knows much on the limitations on Faunus behavior, since there are rules in place that do not allow unethical research. Back then nobody had fancy surgery and sensory equipment to find out about Faunus, so many assumed that they were Grimm in Human form, or that they were animals that were imbued with dust, but nobody is closer to finding the answer. So humans are afraid of your kind, and that fear has been passed down, and made worse because of the White Fang, this hate will not end anytime soon, but you shouldn't let it make you sad, because there are plenty of people who love and take care of you, got it?."

Ruby sleepily mumbled a "got it" before her sensors shut out and she fell asleep in Richter's lap, mumbling and snoring quietly in her sleep. Weiss had also succumbed to the dream monster, and fell asleep with her head laying against Ruby's. He carefully picked up the two and set them on the closest bed he could find, and left, closing the door behind them. One thought in his mind as he left for his labs to work on Project PENNY.

_This generation is the one that will change the world, I'm sure of it. I will do my utmost to aid them, hopefully PENNY can be with them too._

* * *

Sorry for the short chapter, hurt my hand a few days ago and now I type really slowly.

Dr. Polendina is a SUPER big softie.

Binary is interesting


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter timing: AGW 71, December 19th

MEGA CHAPTER for me, 4119 words.

My take at some action, and ACTION.

* * *

Chapter 12: The Bared Fang

WF Hideout (Splinter Group), near Mantle

Despite its proximity to the newer and more prosperous Kingdom of Atlas and lack of Grimm due to the cold climate, Mantle is a hotbed of crime and poverty, especially the edge. A shadow of its former self after Atlas separated from it around 10 years after the Great War. This place was perfect for a White Fang hideout, a place where they could easily watch the shadow of Atlas and be perfectly concealed amongst all the other inhabitants. Mantle was also the home to the majority of all Faunus on the northern continent of Solitas, and many were disillusioned by just how bad things were below, which allowed the White fang to grow in number as more and more Faunus took up arms against Atlas. The negotiations after the Great War and the Faunus Rights Revolutions were less than satisfactory to the current generations of Faunus who lived in Humanity's shadow once again. The SDC may have improved their conditions for all workers, but none of that has been publicly reported in Mantle, and if so, none are willing to believe that the SDC was different from the other rich, prosperous, and prominent dust companies.

Adam sits in a chair of the Fang meeting hall, the majority of the White Fang in Atlas converged with the splinter cell, due to their matching priorities. Other men and women loitered around the area, smoking or chatting with each other, all carrying weapons of some type. Their food and armament supplies were dropping, and they needed to get some that would be able to support their growing movement. The leaders of the splinter cell were astonished at first when hundreds of Faunus had creeped their way here, looking for a chance to crack at humanity, but they rolled with it, now at least a thousand Faunus in terms of numbers. There was a moment of silence when a small bell chimed, and a hushed movement began, people picking up weapons and lining up at the exit ports. Bullheads in groups of three departed from the base, and they rushed towards the designated location.

They hit the unsuspecting COAL dust company freighter with the speed of and numbers of a wasp's nest, making pass after pass on the ship, dropping Faunus on with each pass and damaging the steering equipment. Onboard, they incapacitated the crewmen onboard, tying up the humans and locking them in the compartments of the ship. The Faunus crew members were also tied up, but instead of being thrown off they were tossed into the bullheads and taken back, some of them crying out as their backs hit the steel bottom with force. They seized everything of value inside the ship and took command of it, steering it towards one of their bases in the remote section of Solitas. The captain of the ship lay slain beside the steering wheel, her blue and black clothes stained red as they turned the ship hard to starboard, bringing with them men and women who could only struggle and prepare for the worst.

* * *

Private Transport, Mantle Airspace.

**ANOTHER FREIGHTER VANISHES! **

**Authorities suspect White Fang involvement.**

Tai looked at the paper and sighed, closing it and setting it down. _Another freighter? _Things have been pretty bad his week, with an attack on the _SDC Former, _an old trading vessel, and the recent attack on the newly built _COAL _had caused a new level of paranoia in Atlas. There were reports of almost fanatical witch-hunts for White Fang, any Faunus who were suspected had been thrown in jail and interrogated for evidence on the Fang. Right now they were sitting on a private transport, Ruby playing backgammon with Weiss and Yang in the back of the airship while He, Hivern and Jacques sat at the front, discussing about convoy security. The Schnees had decided to pay a visit to relatives who lived in the Southern tip of Mantle, and decided that they would bring one of their most trusted friends over with them. It was almost Winter Break for the kids, so going a few days before the break out to a friend's relative's house was not too much of a big problem for them.

Usually it was supposed to be a fast trip over, but the weather was being unpredictably stormy over Mantle, so they took a detour around the outskirts. He reclined in his seat closing his eyes and letting the thrum of the engines pull him to sleep. The White Fang wouldn't shoot a transport out of the sky, since they apparently avoided civilian transports and only raided the coast and remote areas. Little did they know that they were flying closer to the enemy than expected.

A ping ran out as White Fang radar operators noticed a blip nearby, unidentified. They signaled the flak turrets around the base, worried that it was an Atlesian scout craft, pin pointing their location. An eagle Faunus looked into the binoculars and saw that the vehicle was painted white and was marked as Atlesian. Fearing the worst, the radar operator ordered heat seeking missiles be fired at its coordinates. The eagle Faunus' eyes widened when he recognized it as a private civilian transport, and he quickly yelled into the comms to belay the order. It was too late, and the missiles flew into the air.

Tai was jolted awake when a high pitched beeping sounded at the front. The pilots yelled something about missiles handing in their direction, telling them to buckle up, and the aircraft banked left sharply, whooshing sounds sounding to their right. The kid's game of backgammon fell to the floor, pieces clattering loudly as they looked out the window, confused why the ride wasn't smooth anymore. They were answered when three sleek missiles entered the corner of their view, attempting to make another pass at the vehicle.

The eagle Faunus desperately yelled to disengage the missiles, but his pleas fell on deaf ears. They had exposed their position to an Atlesian aircraft, and now they had to get rid of it. Anti- aircraft guns began to open up on the aircraft as its evasive maneuvers brought it even closer to the base. He watched on as trails of smoke appeared on the vehicle, before it split in half, rear end falling to the ground as the front end still evaded fire to an extent. He sullenly put down his binoculars and called up a search team, getting medical supplies ready to treat the wounded, if they survived that onslaught.

Tai yelled for the children to get close to him as the missile got closer, watching as they looked around wildly with terrified eyes. Tai tried to reach them, taking off his seatbelt and summoning his semblance. A shield began to form around them, protecting them from the missile that hit the airship and split it in two. The last thing he saw was Ruby reaching out for the seat in front of her, only managing to grasp her bag before falling with Yang and Weiss, a missile hitting him square in the face, knocking him out. Hivern managed to hold on to Tai and keep him on board, and she watched in horror as Ruby, Weiss and Yang plummeted to the earth, Tai's shield no longer protecting them. A few bullets pinged off the side of the hull, forcing her back. The copilot screamed as a round pierced his thigh, and he let go of the controls. The pilot Daniel Boi, However, managed to regain control of the aircraft, steering and dodging projectiles simultaneously as the airplane flew to the closest hospital.

Weiss and Yang screamed as they fell, clutching each other as they fell towards the dark green forest. Ruby tried to reach them, shouting for them to hold on to her. Yang got what she meant and grabbed Weiss, managing to hold Ruby's hand. Ruby let them hug her, and she started putting all of her energy towards her core, hoping for the gravity dust to slow them from hitting the ground. She saw warning signs on her HUD on the lowering power reserves as she exerted all of her power to combat gravity. She started powering her leg thrusters as well to but as much upward thrust as possible, and succeeded in getting them into a slower falling state. However, Ruby's power was significantly lower, and she couldn't do it for much longer. Her arms began to give out as they hit the grassy floor softly.

"Yang… can't… move"

Yang started rummaging through Ruby's pouch bag for any gravity dust cells, her logic telling her that she needed new batteries. There was a full set, but she didn't know what to do with it. She looked at Ruby, who laid on the ground with her face buried in the dirt, and flipped her over, asking her how to fit the cells inside.

"Open my back," Ruby rasped, feeling woozy from the low energy: "Password is 3927, switch some of the batteries and put the things in in dash side first." Ruby had done this sort of procedure twice before, so she knew how to translate it into a basic sort of English, with no fancy "negative charge," "rechargeable gravity dust cells," and "hidden compartment."

Yang fumbled with cell, lifting Ruby's shirt and swiped the small panel on the back. She typed in 3927 and the back folded out, 6 cell compartments full. She took out one of the cells and placed in the new one, shutting the compartment. Ruby's eyes lit up a pit after, and she gave a thumbs up to Yang. Weiss looked in horror as she saw a familiar insignia in the distance.

A group of White Fang members approached the area where pieces of the aircraft had fallen. They noted the occasional shirt and tie strewn about the place, more evidence confirming it was a civilian transport. A cheetah Faunus knelt down and inspected a piece of clothing, eyes narrowing when he spotted a familiar name, SDC. He quickened the pace, motioning his brethren to join him as he picked up the smell of humans on the wind. He stopped at a clearing, not believing his eyes at the sight in front of him. In the grass, lay Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, with two other girls. A low growl sounded in his throat, and his companions saw why.

"What do we have here…"One of the men drawled, looking at the three girls. "A little heiress, away from her castle, Goldilocks and… hmm, a wolf Faunus, haven't seen one of you in a while. Take them to the base, we'll decide what to do with them later."

The men approached the girls, approaching them with their arms stretched forwards. Ruby was first to get up, pulling Weiss and Yang up as they got up to run. The men ran for them, trying to intercept them as they fled. The cheetah Faunus slammed into Ruby knocking her into the ground and tried to knock her unconscious. A mean right hook from Ruby sent him flying off, taken by surprise by the child's swing. Weiss and Yang turned back, hesitant to leave Ruby. When they saw some other men coming they realized that they would be caught if they stayed any longer.

They took off, other men noticing and giving chase. Ruby turned around and fired her ice dust cannon, unable to miss at such a close range. The shot landed around the man's foot, knocking him over has he tried to get rid of the dust. Unfortunately for them. A pair of Faunus had already circled back, and they pounced on Weiss and Yang, quickly subduing them and tying them up. Ruby was holding her own against the group, too strong to be held by the other Faunus, combining raw strength with basic martial arts by Tai, but she was being overwhelmed. She was kicked in the back of the head, and lashed out with her fist, rewarded by a crunch and a gasp when it connected with the man's groin. She launched towards another Faunus, tussling with her as they rolled around, snapping and clawing, other people jumping on until it was a chaotic pile of limbs. A whistle sounded, and a man's voice cut through the clearing.

"Get down on the ground, or your friends will get hurt, do it NOW!" He was holding Weiss and Yang by their shoulders, not letting them run off. Ruby hesitated a first, still under a mountain of people, but complied, letting the men bind her wrists. She noticed that they were relatively soft compared to her arms, but she couldn't escape now, not when the bad people had Weiss and Yang. They we're slowly led towards a hidden complex among the trees.

* * *

Hospital, Atlas

Tai woke up with a start, feeling his head to find bandages covering it. A man sat beside him, thigh wrapped up in similar bandages. He looked at Tai and spoke:

"Hey, you. You're finally awake. You were trying to visit people in Mantle, right? Flew right into that White Fang ambush, same as us, and that woman over there. It was a good thing that Pilot Boi was able to control half an aircraft by himself."

Hivern sat with Jacques, both looking worse for wear as they listened into the radio of several search aircraft that had been sent to find any evidence of the girls, so far all they've found was scrap and burning wreckage.

Tai immediately reached for his scroll and texted Qrow, marking the message as extremely urgent. He also sent one to Dr. Polendina, hoping that he would be able to track Ruby's location. This was a dire situation, he would need all the help they could get to save the three kids.

_Please be alright girls _He prayed as he saw ellipsis (…) coming from both Qrow and Polendina.

* * *

WF Hideout (Splinter Group), near Mantle

Weiss and Yang were tossed into a cell with only one window, facing away from the sun. They let out a small "oof" when they hit the ground, unable to catch the fall with their bound hands. Weiss bit her lip, trying not to cry as she landed awkwardly on her hand. Ruby expected herself to join them, but the man holding her closed the door and locked it, leaving with her instead. Ruby panicked when she realized she was being separated from them as the man led her out of the holding cells and into a series of winding halls. The man grunted with annoyance as the little girl began to squirm in his grasp, so he held her hair and shook her, telling her to stop moving, other Faunus now looking with curiosity. Ruby's only response was to struggle more, earning an angered grunt from the man as he raised his hand to knock Ruby out.

He swung his fist, and dealt a sharp blow to Ruby's forehead, but she only struggled harder, this time getting out of her binds and grappling with the man, other Faunus rushing to assist the man in handling the small angry girl. Ruby returned the favour the man gave her previously, her fists striking his forehead repeatedly, until someone jumped on her from behind.

A camera operator called for reinforcements as she watched the carnage in Camera number 12. It was a dogpile situation again, but Ruby wasn't about to get caught. She called up her cloaking field and let the other men fight it out, the one holding her shoulders looking around in confusion before someone hit him, mistaking his dog ears for Ruby's wolf ears. It became a brawling balderdash when others moved in to beat the crap out of whoever was in that circle.

Ruby shot into one of the vents, closing the door and hiding behind it as she wondered how to get back to Weiss and Yang, the shouts and screams of a brawl below her getting quieter as she crawled away, her experience of hiding now paying off.

* * *

Hospital, Atlas

Qrow, Tai, and Professor (DOCTOR) Polendina sat around a circle with the Schnee Patriarchs. They had asked to use one of the private conference rooms and now were trying to find Ruby and the others. Doctor Polendina placed his scroll on the table, the device displaying a blue map of the map of Solitas, a red blip near a lake. Qrow placed his, and a hologram of General ironwood appeared, flickering on Qrow's scroll.

"This map shows Ruby's current location, the tracker in her chest still intact." He took the scroll, and typed something before putting it back down. The map was now a geographical map.

"The area they landed in is an extremely thick forest, with cliffs located next to a lake, and right under Atlas. It appears the Fang has established a new base around this area, right under our noses. Greetings, General Ironwood, this map development is good news for you, isn't it?"

"It's good to see you again Professor, this is indeed good news." The General arranged his suit before speaking again. "This base must be destroyed immediately, its mere existence threatens the safety of citizens of both Atlas and Mantle, especially if it has armed missiles and is concealed perfectly. I shall begin informing my lieutenants." A hand made him stay for a moment, coming from Polendina.

"General, it is advisable to enter the base with discretion, my guess is that there are human prisoners located in there, as well as intelligence from other bases. There have been matching trends of ships disappearing approximately 5 kilometers from this location recently. The _SDC Former _and _COAL Newfield _lost contact with their companies when they came closer to 3 kilometers from this base."

"Ever the sharp eye, Polendina, and just what i had in mind. Any other Intel that you could pass to the specialists I'll send in?"

"Yes, look out for the Schnee heiress and Tai's daughter, they fell off the plane with Ruby."

"Alright then, goodbye Professor, I am hoping to see the progress you've made with Project PENNY."

* * *

WF Hideout (Splinter Group), near Mantle

Ruby crawled around the vents, looking for a way back to Weiss and Yang. Her current situation reminded herself of a game she played a while back, Steel Cogs Solid, a sneaking game. However, it was nothing like the simulations. Weiss and Yang were in a cell somewhere and Angry Faunus were looking for the "wolf girl on the loose." It was only thanks to her cloaking capabilities that she stayed hidden, but they could smell her, leading to very awkward situations sometimes. She bumped her head for what she thought was the sixth time now, and froze when she heard voices right underneath her.

"Are you sure you checked everywhere in the base?"

"Jeff, I helped build this base asshole! The only place I haven't checked yet is the vents, and no ordinary child would've been able to jump into those."

"Alright, alright, chill it man, there are people who are very high-strung in the base right now, clamoring that Atlas is at their doorstep, fear mongering I tell ya. It's not like one of the kids came with a beacon attached right?"

The voices faded, and she breathed a sigh of relief. She detected Yang's scent and crawled towards it, hoping it would bring her to the right place. Her face fell, disappointed when all she saw was a white wall and a steel door with a lock. Agitated that she couldn't reach Yang and Weiss, she growled, and immediately regretted doing so when voices sounded from below once again.

"What was that noise?"

"Damn, check the vents, our little friend may have gone up after all."

Ruby scrambled back into one of the other passages as the vent entrance under her was being screwed open. She went next to a closed vent and put her wolf ear to it. When nothing was heard she pushed out with all her strength and bent it open, seeing a room with cardboard boxes. Eyes adjusting to bright light again, she shook off all the dust on her before diving underneath a box and staying. There were footsteps before a man came up very close to the box, whispering to his comrades.

"I think she's right here, around these boxes. The opening is bent open and there is dust." A shuffling sound was heard as he lifted one of the boxes.

"Alright, she's gotta be around here somewhere, lift this one. Huh? Just a box. Next."

Fingers came around the edges of the box, and it came up. To the man's perspective, there was nothing underneath, in truth, there was a petrified girl in a fetal position, desperately praying for them not to find her. The man kicked the box away, angrily murmuring, leaving the area with his chums. Ruby immediately got under another box, the close shave taking the wind out of her sails.

Yang and Weiss lay in the cell, waiting for Ruby to come back. Attempts to escape had only tired them, and they now lay exhausted on the cold floor. Yang had tried pushing against the door, put she only slid after pushing with her body. The cell guards were long gone, set on chasing a much more elusive target, leaving them utterly alone. Coughs and groans were heard from other cells, other people present in this nightmarish place. An eagle Faunus came close to the cell, looking at them, before turning away again, his face one of sadness, or was it guilt? Yang was too tired to think about it, eyes slowly drooping.

A click woke her up, and the eagle Faunus came back in, with cloths in his hand. He slowly approached them, footsteps echoing softly on the floor. Weiss realized what this man was probably trying to do, and opened her mouth to scream, trying to get away from the Faunus. The man put his hand on her mouth, shushing her, and she relaxed when he backed away speaking quietly.

"Please be quiet, we don't have much time." Yang opened her mouth, only to be shushed again.

"Please, the others are looking for your friend, but I need to get you two out here first." Yang however, had a question she needed to ask.

"What are they going to do to us?"

"Nothing good, the higher ups are still deciding on what to do, but I heard the word "kill" being tossed around, it isn't safe here anymore. You need to wear these cloths over your mouth, lest something happens and I have to make a cover story."

He put the cloths around their mouth and led them outside. He gestured them to get in the container. They got in, and he covered the top, making it look like an ordinary dust crate. He prayed that no one was watching the camera as he moved out, if he got caught, he would be dead.

When he found out that the Schnee heiress was captured and at their mercy, he had felt pretty good. But when he saw that crying girl inside of the dirty cell with her friend, he saw just how wrong he was to think that the girl would hate Faunus like most of the humans he had met, that she would be just like the ones who cut off one of his wings. No one deserved death because of their lineage.

The man made a beeline straight for the vehicle bay, offering apologies when he ran into other Faunus. He was sweating profusely, pressure building on as he continued to walk towards the vehicle bay. He entered the facility, and put the crate onto a small van, opening it a tiny bit for the girls to breathe. He got the truck started and pulled it out of its parking spot, slowly leaving for the outside. Weiss and Yang looked on hopefully as the truck went for the light.

"All units beware, we have 3 escaped prisoners and all three are at large, the base is under lockdown until further notice!"

Shit.

* * *

Snake, answer me! Snake? SNAAAKE!

*Professor Polendina is an old and trusted friend of Ironwood, and the Professor does create military equipment, so he can play tactician for Ironwood.

TLDR

The C-RYW (crew) experience abduction first hand. Shit hits the fan, tell me how i did this time around.


	13. Chapter 13

For clarification, this chapter happens right after chapter 12, and the White Fang are not targeting civilians. They target dust and cargo freighters, which is not much of an upgrade but still, they haven't tried to kill humans for the sake of it yet. The Schnee aircraft was misidentified and had strayed too close to the White Fang base.

Chapter 14 will be Professor Polendina's logs. They will explain Ruby's artificial body, including its strengths and weaknesses

Chapter 4: The Not so Grand Stroll

WF Hideout, Mantle

The man swore as the announcement was made, going to the back and untying Weiss and Yang's bonds. He got to the front of the truck and gunned for the exit, ignoring the angry shouts of others behind him. The truck came out of the base at maximum speed, leaving its pursuers behind. Yang and Weiss, now free of their ropes, bounced around the back of the truck with what appeared to be pumpkins. A group of vehicles came around the corner, chasing the van as the eagle Faunus told them to brace themselves.

Ruby watched as she saw a vehicle rush out of the base, followed by a few others in their attempt to get at the vehicle, which had left them in the dust. Ruby saw that the people who had stayed at the entrance to guard the entrance had left to chase the van, which gave her the perfect opportunity to run out. Ruby however, did not expect the men to return so soon, and hid in a vehicle before she would be seen, cloaking was no longer an option due to the drain on her power reserves. She clambered in one of the other white vans, hoping nobody would open the back of this particular one.

They did not open the back, much to Ruby's relief, which was short lived when one of them clambered into the front seat and started driving out, shouting orders for his men to follow him. Now she was hiding right behind his seat, listening in frightened silence has he yelled into his walkie talkie, orders flying from his mouth.

"Do not let that van get away, the security of our base and the White Fang depend on this chase mission."

"TO YOUR LEFT, TO YOUR LEFT!"

"Do not rear end me Griff or-" a large splat on the window drew his attention away.

A pumpkin had somehow hit the windshield, orange pulp and juices staining the window and obstructing vision for the driver, who curses loudly in front of the 6 year old behind him and yells into the walkie talkie again.

"Goddamnit, take the lead Griff, a pumpkin got my windshield. Don't be an idiot and mess this shit up." He opened the door and began to wipe off the pumpkin. Now Ruby wasn't dumb, nor was she reckless, okay she was kind of reckless, but she knew that Weiss and Yang where in that car, judging from the scent she picked up in the vehicle bay earlier, and she knew that she had to catch up to protect them, even if it meant stealing this man's car. She remembered her father's wise words as she slowly crept up to the wheel.

"_It is up to you to make the hard decisions when I'm not here, but remember to always protect your family."_

Ruby hopped on the still revving truck as she pondered her move, the man outside noticing her as he finishes wiping the majority of the pumpkin pulp off. A button on her left side caught her attention, one that she flicked immediately with impunity, the _Child Safety Lock_. The man must have heard, because the moment she did so the man immediately ran to the left car door, yanking it with no success. She looked around and saw two pedals on the bottom of the car, which she was just able to reach with her foot while awkwardly sitting down on the seat. The pressed the one on the left, the movement throwing Ruby's head against the wheel, sounding the car horn. The man was now heading to the side of the road to grab a tree branch, hopefully to smash open a window. Ruby now pressed the right pedal, expecting the vehicle to move forwards. The vehicle lurched forwards, throwing Ruby's back against bottom of the seat. She whooped as she moved forwards, vehicle swaying from left to right as she got used to the wheel, maybe driving wasn't so hard after all.

WHUMP!

The car went off the road and hit a tree, airbag hitting Ruby in the face as the vehicle came to a sudden halt.

The Walkie Talkie crackled, and a voice spoke, causing Ruby to jump in surprise.

"Boss, we got em cornered, what do we do? Boss?"

She peered into the distance and saw a clump of cars, circled around a small dot in the distance. Ruby opened the door, opting for running on her two feet to save her friends.

Qrow surveyed the given area as a crow, looking down and getting a bird's eye view of the base. To a human's eyes it would be almost impossible to detect the base, seeing as a massive amount of plants were planted over the base. His crow form however, was able to detect movement from the openings, like how a human would see an anthill under them. He saw a lone truck heading from the base, a white van from the looks of it. He chuckled as it came off the road and planted itself into a tree, definitely out of commission.

His eyes narrowed when he saw a speck running on its own on the path, he flew closer to the speck, realizing that only one living person in the world had those ears and hair. He looked past where Ruby ran and saw a group of white vans pared in a clump. He connected the dots and dove down, ready to protect the ones he held dear.

The eagle Faunus, apparently called Mitch, yelled at the kids to dump the pumpkins at them. Yang and Weiss unsteadily made their way to the back, hesitant of opening the doors that kept them inside the vehicle. They opened the lock for the back door of the van, holding onto the side of the van. The doors swung open, leaving them to cling on for dear life as all of the pumpkins fell out of the van, cascading onto the road.

Pumpkins rolled down on the dirt path, getting under wheels and coloring the road orange. The leading vehicle took a direct hit, getting to the side of the road as a pumpkin hit its windshield. Several other vehicles were also taken out of the chase, but at least 7 vehicles remained, determined to catch them.

Mitch growled as he realized just how absurd this was. Members of the White Fang chasing one of their own, who was defending a Schnee and her friend, while using pumpkins as their last resort to shake off their pursuers. There was a sudden lurch in the vehicle, and Mitch cursed under his breath as he realized one of his van's tires gave out. The pursuers were now gaining on them, despite their best efforts to escape. Another van slammed into theirs, and they went tumbling, right into a grassy clearing. Mitch and the others in the van let out shouts as their vehicle rolled over and came to a stop on its side, the occupants dizzy from the impact.

Footsteps were heard around them, as well as angry voices telling them to step out of the car. Mitch did not know if they had brought equipment to break the windows, but he sure as hell didn't want to find out. His heart dropped when the doors where yanked open by a crowbar, and he braced himself for the beating that would follow. A hand reached out and grabbed Weiss, but to their surprise, lifting her from the van.

Weiss was thrown into the middle of the circle, a few men and women jeering at her, pelting her with insults and dirt. She looked around in fear, seeing how some of them were armed with sticks and the occasional crowbar. Yang cried her name and tried to reach her, but the Faunus shut her and Mitch inside, barring it shut.

"Wait your turn, human. Mitch you're not safe either, you two are next, so let us have our fun."

He swung his hand back with his stick, and would've hit Weiss with it, if it hadn't been for Qrow slamming into him, sword drawn. Qrow hit the man in the cheek with the flat of his blade, sending him and a few of his cheeks flying. The White Fang Grunts were only able to cry out in surprise before the man was in front of them, his giant weapon Harbinger swinging out and taking out the enemy.

Ruby had finally reached the trucks, going around the vehicles to see how she could salvage the situation. She did not need to, as she saw Uncle Qrow swing out his weapon, in scythe form, tossing White Fang left and right as Weiss lay down on the ground beside him, an awe inspiring sight for the little girl. The last enemy fell, and he pressed a button near his ear, talking in his gruff and scratchy voice.

"Found the kids, converge on my location, we got work to do."

"Damn Qrow, you work fast, are all of them accounted for?"

"Yes, Ruby Weiss and Yang, with a bonus young man." He waved to Mitch, who hesitantly waved back, the massive scythe resting on his shoulders making him nervous and words he intended to say got jammed in his throat. He decided the best course of action was to stay silent.

Later, two jeeps pulled up beside them, colored a sandy color to avoid detection. A team of Atlas Specialists got out, shaking hands with Qrow, complimenting on his success. Mitch was requested to direct them to the base, and they set off in one of the jeeps. Weiss Yang and Ruby got into the Jeep that remained, Qrow at the wheel, ready to take them home. The girls all fell asleep as the ride got closer to Mantle, the chaos of the past few days finally overtaking them. They slept fitfully under the dying sun.

They were enveloped in hugs by their parents when they got out of the vehicle nest to the hospital, all of them crying in various ways. Weiss and Yang were brought to the doctors for a basic examination, and Ruby had to get some of her batteries swapped, ones that Polendina claimed to be more efficient than the previous ones. It was quite the ordeal for them, but life was not quite done with them yet.

WF Hideout, Mantle Outskirts

The base was up in flames, rubble and ash all that remained of the top secret complex. Directed by Mitch and other intelligence gathered, he specialists had successfully infiltrated the compound, rescuing the prisoners and setting explosives at various outside areas. The first explosions had rendered the defensive turrets incapable of combat, and it left the base vulnerable to Ironwood's Battlecruisers, each one firing heavy cannons at the base. It was over for the Faunus trapped inside, all of them screaming as the wave of fire rolled over them, some of them cried out, fearing death, while others of rage, and some simply regretted that they would be dying. Now the base was a crater in the green forest, smoking caldera of a mighty base. But one of the blocks trembled as a hand shot out between the pits, covered in smoke and battered, but alive. Adam slowly crawled out of the debris, cursing all the way.


	14. Chapter 14

I apologize for the shorter chapter, there was an event today, and I spent half a day taking care of 20 kids. Im tired.

These logs will give you a more in depth look at Ruby's new body, and some P.E.N.N.Y.

I use earth metals because we don't know about Remnant metals kappa.

These logs will try to smooth out the time skip I will be doing.

* * *

Chapter 14: Professor Logs (1)

AGW 71, October 30th

_Ruby's body is now complete, consisting of several top of the line prosthetics, all made of high grade carbon steels, with some graphene underneath, capable of resisting tremendous amounts of pressure and a very high impact strength. Ruby's body is meant to be able to take extreme amounts of strain while being able to hit back with devastating blows, with an Ice dust cannon attached to her left arm, and a gravity dust railgun on her chest for a last resort. Her right arm can also configure into a hammer and machine gun, giving her versatility on the battleground. Ruby's torso not only contains a Gravity dust railgun, but also a six barreled mortar, named "Mist Thrower" in Mantle dialect, called Nebelwerfer, an appropriate name due to all the smoke it shoots out. The Primary function of this device is to destroy enemy fortifications and larger than average Grimm, a weapon best used from afar. A few of these weapons are currently inaccessible to Ruby at the moment, due to the fact that she is a child with unparalleled inquisitive nature, she will have access when she is older. Unfortunately, Ruby's body sacrifices energy efficiency for her strengths, and also suffers from being extremely heavy. In Ruby's case it is not wise to leave for extended trips without extra dust cells. Fortunately gravity dust is not commonly used, and is relatively cheaper than other dust forms._

AGW 71, December 25th

_I have helped Ruby attach her newest prosthetics, to help stimulate body growth and not attract attention to her, and I have noticed a few things. A strange energy coalesces and condenses around her eyes, which gets stronger when she gets stressed. Further observations show that Grimm stored nearby for testing are increasingly agitated the closer she gets, which leads me to conclude about the truth of the legend of silver-eyed warriors. This behavior was first noticed when Ruby opened her eyes. They were not the grey color the eye pieces were supposed to be, but instead turned into the most striking of silvers, with little accents at the lower regions of her irises. It appears that the energy comes from her soul, but can only be transmitted through her eyes. I will keep an eye on this._

AGW 73, October 31st

_Ruby, now aged 8 on this day, is no less of a terror as she was the day I gave her first body. Crazy kid, I tell you, the rowdiest wolf among all of the children I have been blessed to meet. Today she has managed to freeze half my lab by "accident," leaving me to personally thaw out her "mistakes" with a blowtorch. She is still at large in the facility, and I will find her. _

AGW 74, January 12th

_Today, Project P.E.N.N.Y. is almost fully complete, but I have noticed something odd. I may have made a minor hiccup in programming emotions. Instead of being flustered and inarticulate when lying, the program will read hiccup instead. Whether if it's because of her actual soul that has been hovering around this room recently, which I noticed due to occasional starts in her Soulhome, or just a computing error I do not know. But what I do know, is that Penny has been frequenting this very room. Her Soulhome flashed just a few hours ago, calling me father, before disappearing, and making a few more appearances after. However, she is still only a few days old, and lacks social and emotional abilities, which is why it was a good thing to have Ruby's mannerisms be a reference to help her act. I do look forward to spending time with her._

AGW 76, January, 11th

_PENNY has come to stay, residing in her Soulhome and greeting me with cheer. Her first course of action was to knock over a wrench on my table, much to my chagrin. It appears that by basing some of her mannerisms off Ruby, she inherits her inquisitive nature. I may regret this, but I don't. _

AGW 76, October 31st

_Ruby, once again, is getting her prosthetics replaced by larger ones. This will be one of her last change before I have to start imitating puberty, which will give me more grey hairs. Tai and Qrow are doing well, though I have not heard the same news from the Schnee family. Jacques is more or less withdrawn from public life, occasionally looking wildly from left to right, as if he expects an attack. Sometimes, in his hands he holds a letter, from an anonymous sender, the paper crushed in his hands. Despite the fact that the SDC had reached record amounts of profit and have gained more support, it seems as if Jacques seems saddened by it. His family is not blind to it, and they have been trying their best to shake him out of his funk. _

_Ruby's ability to learn new things never ceases to surprise me. Ruby has learned basic weapon crafting skills, her computing systems no doubt helping her measure things to an almost perfect degree, to a degree that would make her fellow students at Signal jealous. She has begun designs for a scythe weapon, based off her uncle's great weapon Harbinger. I would like her to meet Penny, but she hasn't worked out many of her emotions, and would make things certainly confusing for the both of them._

AGW 77, January 1st

_General Ironwood visited today, asking about how Penny was doing, I told him that she was doing great, though she missed staying with her mother in the afterlife. Ironwood may have good intentions, but Penny is my daughter. I do not want to push her further than I already have into this world, I want her to enjoy life. Hopefully Ironwood will understand my intentions._

AGW 78, February 24th

_Today has been one of the most haunting and painful days of my life. After my successes with the first two Soulhome transfers went well, I got too bold, too confident. I attempted to save a man who was dying, one without family, which led to his downfall. Without his family's aura to guide him to the Soulhome, his spirit never found its way there. I'm afraid I may have consigned this poor man to oblivion, forced to wander the eternities without rest. The Soulhome project is over, never again, the risk of eternal torment and the toll on my conscience is too much. Military applications be damned, it was risky enough to trifle with the forces of life and death, and this failure has proved it. Project New Home is over, its successes far outweighed by the negative results. Ruby and Penny, will be the only 2 on earth to have successfully transferred, and I'm keeping it that way._

* * *

The Unknown

The Brother Gods looked upon all of the worlds they had created, overseeing the countless planets and stars. All of them flawed in their own ways, nowhere as near as perfect as their first creation, now a remnant of its forward self. They felt a slight tug of a presence of another being near them, and looked behind them. A single human soul floated around the Expanse, wandering without rest. The Younger brother, the God of Darkness, sighed as he closed his eyes, and raised his left hand. He snapped his fingers, and the soul vanished into golden specks, never to be seen again. However, the Gods were intrigued by the presence of the soul. The Oblivion was their realm, a realm to watch all of the worlds they had created. No mortal, soul or flesh, should have made it into this realm. Tracking the path of the soul, they both nodded, it was time to do a check on their oldest world, despite their promise to never come back until it was perfected.

It was always their most beautiful world, but it was still imperfect, and now they wanted to know why Ozma was taking enough time to make gods annoyed.

* * *

Next time you see Ruby, she'll be fighting a hat wearing Torch. Let me know if you want to see me write some of these scenes.


	15. Chapter 15

Weapon reveal.

* * *

Time: AGW 80, August 10th

Chapter 15: Ruby Rose

Ruby ambled down a street in Vale, heading for the convenience store Dawn to Dust, many thoughts hovering around her digital brain. It was almost the beginning of Grade 10 for her, and Yang had qualified for Beacon Academy. Ruby had wished Yang the best of luck and told her not to copy other people's work, which had earned her a noogie. Now the almost 15 year old Ruby was somewhat alone in Signal, but she would be fine, she had other friends to talk to, so it wasn't that bittersweet. What was bittersweet was how her friendship with Weiss and other members of the Schnee Family had somehow diminished a bit. After that last accident with the transport, her visits to the Schnee Manor became sparse and more restrictive, being limited to only a few areas to explore. Fortunately for her, she was finally legally allowed to stay home by herself, which gave Tai more operating space himself. She and Tai would occasionally video chat each week, sometimes with Weiss present, but ruby wished, oh she wished, that Weiss would speak to her more.

Shaking her head, she arrived at the store, the Shopkeep at the front, greeting her. She returned the greeting and went to the dust cell section, her current batteries needing to be replaced. Her readngs showed energy levels at 30%. While usually it was possible to last for another week, it was always a good idea to have an extra set. She put on her headphones and listened to her favorite song: "This will be the Day." She listened to it and compared the prices and quality of the different type of gravity dust cells, HUD listing down all of the numbers.

Roman Torchwick had planned for an easy day. His new boss, the Cinder woman came around and demanded him to get a set amount of dust. Normally, he would've been fine with all the stealing, a favorite pastime of his. Now? It had a deadline and everything went downhill from there. After looking for henchmen he finally got enough to scratch and found a dust shop open at 8PM on Saturday. He took a deep breath, tired from all the searching and just hoping that at least this last heist for today would go well.

Well unfortunately for him, he was not the only one who was glad this shop was open this late.

The henchman barged in, with Roman behind him, threatening the poor Shopkeep with his infamous Melodic Cudgel.

"Do you have any idea how hard it is to find a Dust shop open this late?"

The Shopkeep was understandably vexed, and handed over his money, expecting the men to leave with it. He did not expect the men to go for the processed dust, each man grabbing canisters and loading them up with the dust tubes, each one turning a color when filled. A henchman spotted Ruby at the back, who was still wondering if she should go with the Endurecell or Energizing Brand. The man came up behind her, hoping to get a bit more easy money. He called out to the girl, yelling for her to put her hands up, she did not. Angered by the fact that the girl wouldn't respond, he tapped on her shoulder.

"Hey kid, you have a death wish or something?!"

The child turned around at that, revealing her headphones and wolf ears, which were somehow pinned down by the headphones.

"Yes? I mean no, but, what do you want?" the henchman got slightly confused when Ruby started babbling incoherently from that point on.

''I SAID PUT YOUR HANDS UP IN THE AIR, NOW!'' This brought her babbling to a halt

''Are you… Robbing me?''

"YES!''

This was the part where the girl was supposed to give her wallet over, but instead, the girl swings, with a haymaker, headed right for his chest, this was going to be easy. He then notices the weird boxes she has on her forearms, something akin to shields, with red and black patterns. Still, it was nothing for a trained man like him.

_So telegraphed, I can easily catch this punch. So much for trying to defend yourself -!_

Looks were very deceiving, because that punch did not stop when his hand caught it, it kept going, delivering a solid smack to the cheek for the henchman. He went flying towards the wall, which he hit head first, knocked unconscious. Another man checked out the disturbance and pointed his gun at Ruby, telling her not to move.

Ruby darted across the room, rose petals blowing in the gust as she used her semblance. She picked up speed as she turned into petals, slamming into the man's chest and bowling him over, completely breaking his ribs and the window of the store, much to Shopkeep's chagrin. The men stood watching as she stood up from the groaning man, and spread out her arms. The boxes on her forearms glowed a light purple before they lifted off, spinning and folding out into…

"..Two scythes…Goddamnit." Roman mumbled, absolutely pissed, a huntress in training with adept dust control and skill. All they had to do was follow the goddamn plan, and not draw attention to themselves, especially teenage Faunus Huntress in training! He felt very compelled to tear out his hair right there and then, but he had an image to uphold.

"Okay…Get her!"

The men complied, rushing towards Ruby, unaware that unnatural selection would take place. Ruby pushed her arms in front of her, and then struck a pose, palms clapping together. Crescent Rose and Waning Rose spun and slowly floated towards the men, making a barrier of steel they did not want to pass. The scythes then stopped spinning, and actively attacked the men, being controlled by Ruby from afar.

_/Emulating user's fighting style…/_

Roman saw that his men were hard pressed, so he shot a burn dust shell at Ruby with his cane, hoping to distract her. Strangely, the girl did not dodge and the shell connected, and the scythes stopped spinning, causing the men to look at the small smoke cloud. Roman realized what was happening, and immediately ran for the nearest ladder, calling for extraction. Ruby emerged out of the dust cloud, completely unscathed, save for a few patches of clothing missing.

Waning Rose and Crescent Rose started spinning again, this time connecting at the hilts, making a monstrously long double sided scythe, Waning Crescent Rose. The weapon spun a few times before all the men were either knocked unconscious or passed out from fright. It was then that Ruby realized she forgot about the head honcho Roman, who had escaped to the roof and was climbing into a bullhead. She noticed Professor Goodwitch engaging the enemy bullhead with her semblance, purple projectiles attacking the airship. Ruby ran into action, not wanting to miss an opportunity to aid a professional huntress in combat, and quickly boosted on to the rooftop. The compartment on her torso opened up, and six barrels opened up from her chassis.

Glynda Goodwitch fought the unknown assailant in the bullhead, gritting her teeth as she realized just what she was fighting. This person was most definitely using maiden powers, even if they did not have the full strength a maiden usually had. The bull head started pulling away and Glynda grit her teeth harder, preparing another salvo of projectiles. A thump sounded next to her and there was an odd whirring sound. Glynda looked to the left, and saw one of Taiyang's infernal daughters, Ruby Rose. She wore her signature pure and innocent smile as a six barreled cannon rose out of her torso, and it opened fire.

There was a shrieking noise as six rockets flew out, howling as they raced towards their target. However, in her haste to assist Goodwitch, she had forgot about some of the other problems of shooting a loud and destructive weapon in the city. The six rockets were slightly off target, crippling the bullheads tail instead of the actual compartments. The sounds of the weapon did succeed in waking up the entire block of civilians at 9pm, where many people sought sleep instead of being woke up at night. Ruby only rubbed her neck nervously as Goodwitch descended upon her, dragging her away from the area. Ruby never purchased those cells, and now owes Shopkeep 350 lien.

"I hope you realize that your actions today will not be taken lightly, Ruby Rose. Smashing through a window, toying with your opponents and giving them cruel and unnecessary punishment, and firing a mortar in a civilian area."

"In my defense, they started-"

"If it were up to me, you'd be sent home, with a pat on the back... and a slap on the wrist!"

She slapped her crop on Ruby's hand, a ping ringing out when it connected. Ruby jumped back a bit, scared of triggering an even more negative reaction towards herself.

"Despite all this, my superior is compelled to meet you."

Professor Ozpin walked in carrying a plate of cookies in his hand, his signature mug in the other. He set the plate of cookies on the table, eyebrows raised when Ruby completely devoured the cookies in the plate. Ruby was grateful that she did not inherit cocoa intolerance from her grandmother, but then again she was purely mechanical so it didn't matter. She sighed with pleasure, a cloud of greyish dust rising from her mouth. The room began to smell of cookies, much to Glynda's displeasure.

"Ruby Rose, we meet again."

This was not a lie. Ruby had met Professor Ozpin many times on occasion, usually with Tai and Yang. However, they had never met in this location before, was she in trouble?

"How did you learn to fight like this?" Ozpin asked, showing footage of her scythe windmill knocking men over.

"Signal, or at least my uncle helped me to make and practice basic maneuvers. The rest was just me using gravity dust and imitating my previous maneuvers, making it so that I can fight with two scythes."

"Intriguing, it is not often that I find such creativity and skill among people your age, Miss Rose, I have a proposition for you."

Ruby had a feeling she knew what it was, but at the same time, she wanted to make sure she heard it before she went and jumped to conclusions.

"How would you like to join your sister at Beacon this school year?"

Ruby cheered, throwing her hands in the air, streamers coming from them.

_/Critical energy levels…/_

Oops. Ruby forgot about that one tidbit. Celebrations would have to come a bit later.

* * *

Ruby is a metal girl now, so why stick with one Scythe, two is the answer of course!


	16. Chapter 16

In this chapter you will see:

-Impending disaster

-Some Penny

Also, apologies from me. I got pretty sick for the last few days and I took a brief pause on uploading.

Time: AGW 80, September 7th.

* * *

Chapter 16: Onwards to Beacon

Xiao Long/Rose Household.

Ruby growled as her massive bellend of a sister held Crescent Rose over her head, blowing a raspberry at her shorter baby sister. Ruby had to wait for a few more months before she got her next prosthetics, but until then, she was at a devastating and awe inspiring 5'1". And Yang, who stood at 5'8" towered over her sister, keeping one half of her beloved weapon away from her. Ruby narrowed her eyes as she tried to reach the weapon, jumping for it as Yang tiptoed and kept it a few inches from her.

Ruby gave up, backing away from Yang. Seeing that she was planning to play the Long game, Ruby developed a new strategy. Years of using cybernetics and controlling gravity dust had given her a mastery over the control of the substance and her metallic body. Ruby's left arm deconstructed itself, flying from the socket piece by piece to attack Yang, each piece, from nail to knuckle attacked her elder sister, peppering her with little blows. All the pieces were glowing a light purple from the gravity dust.

Yang was not expecting Ruby to deconstruct her left arm, but when she did it was too late. The pieces started tickling her and swirled around Crescent Rose, bringing the weapon out of Yang's weakening grasp.

However, Ruby continued her assault, still tickling her and this time bringing more objects into the storm of small hazards. Pens and pins all came and tickled Yang, all going for about 5 minutes.

In the end, Yang cried uncle, and Ruby halted her assault. They went downstairs to eat the breakfast Tai had prepared 3 minutes ago, eating the warm food and talking about how the day would go.

"Well sis, you excited for Beacon?"

***Intelligible food noises***

"I'll take that as a yes."

/

Schnee Manor.

Weiss readied her belt as she picked up all of her supplies. She but some dust in her left pouch and some writing utensils at her chest pocket. A proper huntress always came prepared, and a prepared huntress was a huntress with an increased survival chance. She gave a quick goodbye to her brother Whitley as she left their room, walking down the white hallway. She met her father at the door, embracing him with both of her hands, both of them saying their goodbyes.

Weiss did not have as many friends in Atlas as she did in Vale, causing school to be very dull and drab sometimes. So she decided to roll in Beacon this year, even if it meant that she would leave the house for a few years. Jacques was hesitant at first, who knew that the White fang would try to exploit the absence of his guards, but she would be among friends if she went to Vale, and so he agreed. Weiss said her goodbyes as the cab driver drove her to the Airport, ready to take the next step as a huntress.

/

Beacon Academy.

Blake waited as the faculty talked and joked, all of them holding coffee mugs. She had become the mascot of the faculty at some point of time, and now at 17 years of age, she was ready to personally enroll into the prestigious institution.

Her scroll gave a buzz as her parents finally answered her video call, their faces somewhat distorted and a light blue, but their faces were still recognizable.

"Hello Blake, is today the big day?"

"Indeed so, this is the day where I become the protector and mascot of the faculty. Someone has to keep you guys in shape and in line"

Everybody laughed at that line, including Blake. Some of the professors played along with it as well.

"Oh dearie me Blake, we're too old to defend ourselves!"

"Blake, I have fallen, help me up."

This went on for a short while before the faculty had to move to their stations. Blake had also left the teacher's lounge after saying goodbye to her parents, who told her to call them at the end of the day.

_Worrywarts, but they mean well _Blake thought as she moved down the courtyard, looking at the familiar statue of a hunter in the courtyard.

The school hadn't changed one bit from the first time she stepped into the courtyard. Long walkways of white with shining blue water surrounding a grey castle, with lanterns illuminating the path to the main entrance. Surrounding the academy were green fields and trees, archways threading in between the scenery, giving off a picturesque ancient castle look.

Some students had been registering themselves at the front gates, and Blake saw the long line of people getting in their transcripts and recommendation letters. Blake looked down and drew gambol shroud, putting it on her hand and feeling the blade, still sharp from the first day she made it with Qrow's guidance. She looked up again, seeing the sun shine through the clouds and fall on her, her shadow behind her. She walked back into the school and headed to the forge, preparing for the hours before she became an official huntress in training.

/

Atlas Cybernetics facility.

Penny lifted her hand as she guided her swords around, pausing as she observed how they floated on her command. She originally had other types of built in weaponry inside her arms and torso, but she had them removed by request. She wanted to feel human, and if she was trying to live as a human she wanted to feel like a meat human, and not a metal one.

Penny lifted her hands and the swords also lifted. The swords did not feel as alien as the other attachments, like the dust cannon or the sword arm, it felt more like a weapon beside her, in a backpack, or flying besides her.

She giggled as the swords rotated around her, occasionally leaving the tight circle to rotate in a large oval. She had not gained enough precision to use them yet, but when she does, she will easily top at least half of her class, at least that's what her father said.

Only one thing stopped her from going to an institution for fighting was her lack of control over her emotions. Her erratic behavior was still abnormal, even for people with disorders, and until she mastered her emotions, she was stuck with father. But that would be very soon, that goal is getting close to being reached. Once she reaches it, she could go out and learn more about the world, one she had chosen to come into, and finally meet that girl named Ruby.

/

Airship

Ruby hummed silently as she stood before the glass window of the airship. Vale was a beautiful city, much more active and brighter than Patch had ever been. Beacon Academy stood in the distance, a bright flashing tower in the distance. A girl in red and yellow sat at one of the back benches, reading a paper. Yang had been forcefully put into a temporary nap, which was not ruby's fault at all. She calmly sat and tuned out the distant murmur of the people in the airship and looked at the scenery, quietly thinking about how far she had come from the little girl who couldn't walk in her metal legs.

Yang had finally woken up, silently cursing at her sister who knocked her out earlier. She got up and stood next to Ruby, rubbing her head with one hand and completely destroying Ruby's carefully done hair. They eventually started boxing with each other on a public airship, earning more than one odd look from the other passengers.

They ended the match with a draw, since they had to get off in 10 minutes and they had lost some of their items during the brawl. They stopped dusting knuckles and looked around for their stuff, talking to each other simultaneously.

"Well Ruby, you excited to become the cream of the crop, the bee's knees?"

"Uhhh…No. I don't want the extra attention drawn to me, since being a Faunus is painful sometimes in places where humans are the majority. too much attention is bad attention."

"Well to bad sis, it's gonna be all yours, since your brain is sharp and your weapons sharper!"

"Aww, thanks sis."

They embraced, and were trying to enjoy the moment, but a boy with a mop of yellow hair hurled in the nearest waste bin next to them, missing a tad bit and getting some of his lunch on Yang's shoe.

Ah well. the boy's had his chance at life.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17: Entrance

Jaune cowered as Yang slowly turned her blood red eyes toward him, the lilac disappearing like mist in the sun. she took a step forward, but a speaker announced that they were preparing to dock, and passengers needed to start getting their belongings. Yang's blood wrath faded away, temporarily as she grabbed her stuff.

The airship descended at the platform, delivering many students off the platforms and into what would become their home away from home for a few years. Students from all over Vale and beyond crowded to get off the airship, only to be disappointed when they realized that they had to line up one by one to get their transcripts checked.

Ruby and Yang were one of the lucky students that had sat closer to the exit when it came down, and manage to leave earlier than most. They waited as the person at the gate inspected their transcripts and passports before letting them into Beacon.

"Welcome to Beacon, where the world's greatest hunters are born. The main lobby is straight ahead."

Ruby and Yang got through the crowd with relative ease, Yang's physique and strength easily diving them the space they needed. Ruby started recording with her camera eyes, sweeping across the Courtyard and documenting the weapons, she would be sure to keep track of all the weapons in Beacon. Yang rolled her eyes as she saw Ruby go into "Sentry mode," staying rooted in one place and looking at all possible things of interest. She looked over to where a number of her friends were waving to her, and put down her bags beside Ruby, giving her sister a heads up before she left.

"Alright Ruby, you know the drill. My friends are waving me over, so keep on guarding our stuff kay?"

She jogged over to her friends, who were getting impatient as she sauntered over.

Ruby, despite being a wolf Faunus with enhanced hearing, did not catch what Yang said, and panicked when she realized she was gone. She looked around, looking for her big sis. She was so preoccupied and overwhelmed by all the smells and sounds of the place that she did not notice a carriage of items that she was slowly spinning towards, a girl in a white bolero with bell sleeves guarding it. She ran into the carriage with soft thump, bringing chaos to the once orderly pile of dust cases.

"Wait wha- You, what are you doing?"

Ruby recognized this voice well, it had an unmistakable shrill piercing tone to it, one that only belonged to Weiss.

"Ugghh, oww…"

Ruby normally would have turned off her pain receptors to eliminate the pain, but she didn't expect her collision and her head was indeed spinning a bit. She pushed off the ground with her hands slowly, shaking her head as she rose from the pile of suitcases. Weiss would have started berating the buffoon before her, but then she recognized who had fell in her luggage.

"Oh, Hello Ruby…Long time no see."

"Hey Weiss, you're going to Beacon too?"

"Indeed, I believed the environment would be a bit more, relaxing and healthier than Atlas Academy, which is far more militaristic. Though I am surprised by your appearance, aren't you a little young to be here? I was sure that 17 was the minimal age of acceptance. Wait, Ruby are you listening?"

Weiss noticed Ruby had stopped paying attention, and was waving to some girl with dark hair and a bow. The girl approached them until she saw the wave Ruby was giving her, and waved back awkwardly before walking in the other direction, whatever she had planned had most likely been vetoed by Ruby.

Ruby, however, had been doing much more. Weiss and Blake had not met each other yet, but it was clear that they would probably butt heads against each other about some sensitive topics, one that probably would have drawn Ruby in too.

Weiss + girl who had blown up part of Schnee Manor and Ruby= - - - -\\(*´･Д･)/

So Ruby waved to Blake and giving her a thumbs up, hoping that Blake would take the hint. If Ruby was still flesh and bone, she would have been sweating bullets.

/

Blake stopped as she noticed what appeared to be Weiss Schnee berating Ruby over a pile of spilled luggage. She inwardly cursed her bow that covered her ears, muffling them so that they could not listen in to the information. She walked towards the two, ready to intervene and help Ruby get the dispute settled, or at least she planned to until Ruby waved her off with a smile and a thumbs up, a signal that meant she was fine. Blake paused and looked at the pair before she walked off, but not before noticing that the white haired girl was looking at her.

/

Weiss looked at the retreating figure with a running thought in her mind as the amber eyed walked towards the main lobby.

_Where have I seen this girl before?_

Weiss shrugged as her butlers picked up the remaining dust with Ruby's help, loading them on one by one. It seemed that one box was not packed properly though, because as soon as Ruby picked it up with her two hands, it exploded in her hands.

"NOT AGAIN!" was Ruby's shout as the explosion engulfed her, covering Weiss with gray soot. She rushed to Ruby, hoping that there wasn't going to be a repeat of that particular Tuesday when Ruby got sent to the hospital. To her relief, it seemed that Ruby had come out relatively unscathed. The bad news was that she lost a case of dust and Ruby came out with the clothing around her right shoulder and arm blown clean off, just barely managing to stay decent.

It was at this moment that a blonde bot came over with Ruby and Yang's belongings, helping Ruby up as the smoke cleared. Ruby recognized this boy as the one who kept throwing up on the airship and got some of it on Yang's shoe, but regardless she smiled in gratitude and took his offered hand. Weiss came to a solution on the two instantly.

_Is this Ruby's boyfriend? Better give them some privacy._

Weiss retreated with her butlers as the last of the dust packages were trundled into Beacon's massive main hall. She didn't know what to do in those types of scenarios, and she did not want to find out what would happen if she got in between Ruby and her boyfriend.

/

Ruby looked up and saw the face of the boy, blonde locks illuminated by the sun, the faint odour of vomit still around his mouth. She saw Weiss retreating to the lobby, a faint blush on her face as she hurried away. Ruby couldn't help but wonder why she was in such a hurry, she could have stayed and helped her.

"Need a hand?" The boy asked, drawing Ruby out of her musing as the boy stood there, slightly awkwardly as he waited for her to accept his hand.

"Thanks for the lift, vomit boy. Name's Ruby Rose, catchy and it gets people hooked."

"Will it now? Jaune Arc sounds much better."

Ruby could neither confirm nor deny this.

"Not sure, Yang always said my name was the most easiest to remember."

"You're not the most shining example of being attractive you know."

This offended the smol reaper.

"Pot calling the kettle black vomit boy."

"Uggh, I apologized already, and airsickness differs for everybody, cut me some slack Ruby!"

"Alright, alright, it was just the first thing that came to mind."

"Then would you mind if I called you Bumper car?"

"Hey, my collision was an accident, your nausea is just your body disagreeing with your choices."

"…Ow…Touche."

Their banter went on for a few more minutes, with Ruby showing off her weapons to Jaune talking about his family. It was put into an abrupt end when Yang showed up and dragged her off, chiding her for being late to meet her friends. Jaune found himself slung on the other blonde's shoulder, wailing piteously as they all went into the lobby at a sprinting speed.

Ruby was once again surrounded by Yang's friends, all congratulating her on making it to Beacon, even Jaune showing signs of shock on his face when he realized Ruby was personally invited to Beacon. It made her somewhat self-conscious when she was showered with attention, and tried to shrink behind Yang. Yang was having none of it, Ruby needed to loosen up, and find more than one friend and Yang herself to confide in, and the first step was here.

Ozpin began his speech to the audience, silencing everyone as his voice carried through the lobby.

"I'll...keep this brief. You have traveled here today in search of knowledge-to hone your craft and acquire new skills. And when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose – direction. You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step."

As soon as it was finished, murmuring arose from the students. It was as if anticipation had taken the fire of excitement and cast it into the ocean. Beacon wasn't known as the most academically demanding schools for nothing.

* * *

A few things.

No parings…yet

THIS WILL diverge from canon, I am not straight up copying, I am going to try to create a different plot.

Blake meeting Weiss is a dangerous meeting if Weiss finds out that Blake and the little cat girl that blew her garden to bits are the same person.

last but not least, Weiss may not be a snob, but she has standards. To her, the way Jaune acted and how Ruby smiled back is a sign of public affection, and she mistook them for a dating couple.

再见


	18. Chapter 18

A note to people: Ruby will not be overpowered. She may be stronger hand canon, but that doesn't mean she does not have weaknesses.

* * *

Chapter 18: Sparring between Prodigies.

There was a period of downtime as people waited for more people to arrive. The official initiation would not start until three days later, the final date for people to enter through registration and acceptance. Nothing short of transferring or personal recommendations from the headmaster would get you in after that that Tuesday. The good thing for people there was that the signal for the Academy was good, and there were multiple sparring rings, which is what the sisters Ruby and Yang were excited for.

They may like games and play them from time to time, but it was only in the ring when they get to exert themselves and push beyond normal limitations. And when they came to the entrance of the sparring rings, they gaped at the formation and complexity of it all. The large rings had a round tile in the center, which became a hard light projector that could change environments. Surrounding the large rings were barriers made from more hard light and glass behind it.

Rows and rows of seats surrounded the rings, giving enough room for spectators a clear view of the battles, and in some rings there were already people sparring, even if they were watched by a professor.

In one ring, a tall man with short brown hair and armor clashed his mace against a short sword of a shorter boy with blonde hair, the two of them likely partners, judging from their matching armor. The brown haired man swung his giant mace towards the blonde's side, hoping to score a direct hit. The blonde ducked under his swing and hit the man on t knee, the short sword not doing much against his heavy armor.

Yang glanced at Ruby before winking, dashing to one of the rings to challenge some poor bastard. They had established ahead of time that they were going to have a competition: the person who beats the most amount of people and the strongest people by the end of the day wins.

Yang ran into a ring occupied by two people, surrounded by a few spectators. One of them was a girl with a large hammer and the other was a stoic faced boy with two knife guns. Ruby watched in the distance as Yang started chattering, before she heard a loud roar of excitement come from one of the other crowded rings.

A young lady wearing a golden headband with a set of classic Mistrali armor rose up from a dazed girl who had a halberd, clearly the one victorious one in the match. The crowd's cheering had reduced to a murmuring, wondering who would challenge her next. Jaune was also there, watching from the sidelines.

The man from earlier came in to the arena, introducing him as Cardin Winchester. The girl "Pyrrha Nikos," shook hands with him before they parted ways and walked to the opposite ends of arena. The portly professor that Ruby vaguely remembered touched the control pad and caused the center disk to glow, casting the arena in a soft blue light.

A hot desert sandstorm rose in the room, covering the floor of the ring with a soft yellow sand before fading. Cardin charged, bringing up his weapon for a giant forward smash, the dust crystal inside of his mace igniting. Pyrrha rolled around the attack and struck him several times in the back with her spear, shield held in front to block any projectiles. Cardin swung out with the club in his left arm, narrowly missing Pyrrha as she once again dodged.

This time, Pyrrha shifted her spear into a rifle, shooting into the weaker areas of armor, at the elbow, armpit and shin. Each hit shifted Cardin's posture, nearly bringing him to one knee, but he bellowed and charged, kicking Pyrrha's shield in an attempt to remove it from her. Ruby saw a soft dark glow surrounding the shield, keeping it onto the arm of the user. This was not good, since this Pyrrha had a semblance of polarity, and she was 100% metal.

_A challenging opponent, but an exciting one._

Ruby was a nice person. At Signal Academy, she was polite enough not to brag about her hidden strength and skill, instead staying in the shadows and letting her sister gain the spotlight. However, she and Yang both knew how Ruby was the true powerhouse, a mechanical marvel. However, the power did not come without a price. Ruby had to go weekly to charge her batteries if she went through extensive combat, and Aura did not regenerate metal limbs, not to mention sand and dirt getting stuck in her sometimes, causing entire systems to go out. If she got damaged, she stayed damage until she or someone else fixed it up.

Cardin's knee hit the ground, the mace wielder clearly winded and defeated. The crowds cheered once again as Pyrrha helped Cardin up, and the mace wielder left, clearly limping. Ruby took a deep breath, and made her entrance. Using her gravity dust enhanced jump, she leapt and cleared the distance between her previous room and the ring in mere seconds, landing superhero style, she could afford to be a bit hard on the knees, since they were of metal. Her cape flowed out behind her, and she stood up, Waning Rose attached to her right hand and Crescent Rose to her left.

The crowd hushed as they looked at this new bold fighter, dressed in black and red. Pyrrha quirked an eyebrow at her, before smiling softly. Pyrrha new that this girl was different from previous challenges, if the aura of silent confidence radiated from her, unlike previous challengers who knew of her feats. She could tell that this girl had at least one prosthetic limb, judging by how there was a light groove on her left arm. Pyrrha came to Beacon to avoid such fanfare, but the situation here was still better than the straight up hero worship and fear the crowd had for her at home in Sanctum. Here, people were actually willing to challenge her, and some had given her trouble.

"Hi Pyrrha, my name is Ruby Rose, may I spar with you for this round?"

Some of the crowd was stunned by how casually the girl had introduced herself to the legendary Pyrrha Nikos, and at first glance, Pyrrha was a bit surprised as well. The girl was the polar opposite of intimidating, with large and adorable silver eyes that sat on a fair skinned face, a nest of black hair that turned red at the tips. On top of her head also sat two large wolf ears, making her look like a small puppy that turned into a Faunus in a black dress.

However, the red boxes that were attached to both hands, lines and gears signifying their ability to mecha-shift. Her posture was relaxed, but also poised to strike, feet spread apart. If this were a game she would certainly be hearing boss music. Pyrrha smiled, excited by the prospect of glorious battle, and gave her answer.

"Of course Ruby, I am excited to spar with you, may the best fighter win."

The crowd was murmuring, some people whispering a school name. The phrase "Wallflower of Signal" was tossed around, as well as "Yang's scary Shadow." Pyrrha's grin grew larger than before, the news she heard was fantastic. The opponent she was about to face was also secretly a prodigy from Signal, some even whispering of how she was 15, two years below the minimal age of acceptance.

They shook hands, their left hands slamming into each other and shaking, each person grinning fiercely. Pyrrha felt the warm metal of Ruby's left hand squeeze down, and she squeezed in return. The arena was not modified, the standard setting in effect for pure battle, no escape or shelter. They parted hands, and walked towards opposite ends of the ring, like the previous match of Pyrrha vs Cardin. Pyrrha deployed her sword and put it next to her shield, planning on cutting down to hand to hand, where she shined at.

Ruby saw no reason to hold back against Pyrrha, so she cast both her weapons into the air and shifted them to scythe form, much to the surprise of the onlookers. Scythes were an uncommon weapon, and only one other person had used dual scythes, the famed Grimm Reaper. The hilts of both scythes connected, forming a dual ended scythe, and the monstrous weapon began to spin, clouding the air with a deadly hum.

As soon as Pyrrha turned around Ruby shot forward like an arrow, Waning Crescent Rose spinning extremely fast, glowing a light people as the gravity dust inside held the weapon up. Pyrrha blocked the onslaught with her shield, wincing as a metallic screech rang out. She used her semblance co create some space by pushing off the giant weapon before rolling to the side, shifting her weapon to gun form to take shots at Ruby. The spinning Scythes separated back into two separate scythes and began attacking her from both sides, not giving her the time to shoot at her. Pyrrha once again used her semblance, trying to force the scythes away, but it was beginning to lower her aura, and she had to back off before she ran out of energy using her polarity.

However, Pyrrha didn't just graduate because of her combat prowess, but also because of her quick thinking mind. She pulled with her semblance on ruby's left arm, bringing her towards Pyrrha extremely quickly. Ruby barely ducked under Pyrrha's swing and what happened next was a vicious bout of hand to hand combat, the distance between the two too close for Milo, Akoúo̱, and Ruby's scythes to come in handy. Ruby blocked a jab from Pyrrha and kicked out with her left leg, trying to hit Pyrrha's right temple. Pyrrha ducked under the swing and came with an uppercut, only for Ruby to tilt her head to the side, dodging the fist. Her attempt to grab Pyrrha's arm was halted by Pyrrha's polarity.

At this rate, Pyrrha was running out of spare Aura for her semblance, and further use would start lowering it at a faster rate, so the kicked out with her feet, pushing herself off to give herself space to use her weapons again. Ruby knew about Pyrrha's lowering energy levels, she could see the sweat on the champions brow, and by Pyrrha's look of shock, she deduced that the prodigy had realized that she had not broken a sweat.

_I will end this swiftly…_

Ruby activated her Semblance, rose petals filling up the stage. It would use a lot of Aura, but it would let her achieve the victory she had planned. She disappeared among the petals as they surrounded Pyrrha, the red head standing guarded against the storm of roses. It was then that she separated her left arm into scrap once again, each piece levitating and attacking Pyrrha. The scythes also joined in on attacking, Pyrrha now surrounded by metal that she couldn't control anymore. To make matters worse for her, the scythes began firing sniper rounds, reloading themselves in the air as they surrounded Pyrrha. The champion knew that it was all or nothing, and sent the strongest pulse of aura she could muster, flinging out with her arms.

The effect was instantaneous, with the scrap surrounding her broken into smaller pieces, the scythes also forced back against the wall. Ruby was thrown back against the left wall of the arena, her petals fading away as she lost focus. Seeing her chance, Pyrrha charged for the takedown, preparing to do a choke slam to finish the fight.

Ruby suddenly opened her eyes, narrowing as her hand grasped Pyrrha's outstretched arm. Pyrrha could only watch in shock as Ruby revealed another part of her hand, a second prosthetic arm. Pyrrha's world was suddenly a blur as Ruby lifted her up and slammed her against the wall.

The buzzer sounded, and the crowd grew silent. A cloud of dust had taken the place of Pyrrha, and it was silent. Professor Port looked at the chart before sighing, declaring the match over.

"Pyrrha's aura has reached the red zone, the victor of this round is Ruby Rose."

Ruby would have cheered in victory, if not for the fact that she realized her left arm was not coming back to her, and her right arm suddenly fell to the floor with a clank, damaged at the sockets. The next few minutes was spent with Ruby fixing her weapons through sheer mental power, and it was tiring.

_Yang's going to have a field day with this when she sees me with no arms, if she makes a joke about me being disarmed I'm going to cut her._


	19. Chapter 19

AGW 80, September 9th-10th

Minor OC to fill in gaps, because my budget is higher than RT's budget during volume 1

* * *

Chapter 19: Initiate

Beacon Academy

It was Monday night, the night before initiation. Dinner was being served in Beacon's cafeteria, crowds of students flocking to tables as invitations to sit and greetings filled the air.

"That was a great battle, Pyrrha, we should totally spar again."

"I agree Ruby, it's not often that I get challenged in battle, let along be defeated."

At one specific table, Yang and Ruby sat with a mixture some of Yang's friends and some of the people they had befriended when sparring. On one end sat Nora, Ren, Pyrrha and Jaune, who was invited to sit by Pyrrha. On the other sat Ruby, Yang, and her two friends Mila and Nep. The din in the cafeteria made it so they had to raise their voices, adding to the clamor.

Pyrrha ate silently and listened politely as Nora gave off a wild retelling of her spar with Yang, with said blonde smirking in her seat and Ruby tinkering with her right arm, the right arm still in repairs to an extent, it was a good thing she was ambidextrous. Ren the killjoy sat next to Nora, giving a more accurate description of the battle

"And so…we faced off in the battle for our lives, destroying the area around us as we awed our fellow comrades!"

"As they were sparring, Nora missed Yang and damages the floor with her hammer, making Professor Goodwitch annoyed."

"Yang was tough and let out a barrage of flames, but I valiantly charged through, braving the flames!"

"She was hit by a few rounds from Yang's gauntlets when she was trying to close in."

"I finally reached the fiendish Yang, and when our weapons clashed, they tore the surrounding area into pieces, shaking the building, it was sooo strong we were both knocked back by the blow, slamming into the walls."

"Nora parried a left haymaker from Yang, and they were both knocked back a few steps from the hit, nothing except the ground beneath them broke."

"Rennnnn, stop being a spoilsport and let me tell the tale."

"It is good to keep a proper representation of the tale."

"I shall continue to tell this tale in its ultimate splendor, nothing you can do will stop me!"

Yang chuckled at the antics of the pair and turned to her baby sister, who was trying to put a strange looking device into her new arm.

"You think you can fix that arm by tomorrow morning Rubes?"

"Oh course Yang, I just need to modify some aspects of my arm, and I don't need to sleep, so feasibly I could stay up late at the forge to work on this arm, this modification is important! There are signs of fracturing on the socket of the arms, signifying weakness in that specific area, also…"

Blake ambled towards their table and sat next to Yang, waving at Ruby silently. Ruby looked up from her tinkering and her eyes lit up when she saw Blake. She came up and offered a one armed hug to the Faunus, who accepted it slowly and gracefully. Yang came up behind them and squashed them together, yelling over all the noise of the cafeteria.

"Heya Blake, how do you do, fellow Prankster and Playmate!"

Blake blushed slightly at the words "playmate", but she answered nonetheless.

"It's been a while since we've met. Good to see you too Yang, and of course it's good to see you too Ruby."

She had to shoe in the last part before Ruby started whining: "What about meeee?!" in a large voice.

/

The people in the cafeteria slowly began to leave, with temporary sleeping areas being set all over Beacon's lobby, and if people were fortunate enough, dorms. Ruby, Blake, Weiss and Yang were among the more fortunate.

Weiss headed to the left most bed and collapsed, instantly falling asleep. Blake took the one in the right corner and pulled out a book, titled: "A Man with Two Souls." Ruby and Yang took the two middle beds and pulled out their scrolls, setting their volumes to mute. With Ruby's arms now fixed and reinforced, they played Dark Sprits together, Yang cursing silently each time she died.

Ruby, having the data and calculations to help her with the game, spent the majority of the time finding hidden chests and trolling Yang occasionally, reaching levels of schadenfreude that shouldn't be possible.

"Hey Yang, chest down there behind the bush, looks safe."

"Alright, come on, show mama Yang the goods-"

-Crunch-

/…You Died…/

"…Ruby, that chest ate me…you sly dog this is what you wanted wasn't it?"

They finally went to bed when Blake came up and told them it was 11:30 pm and that any later and they would have trouble waking up. Yang crept into her covers swearing on her honor that she would get Ruby back later.

Ruby also went to her bed, shutting down areas for power and "sleeping," but not actually doing so, her ears and brain still fully awake as she lay still for 7 hours. However, having a soul meant that dreams would come naturally, and so the time passed very fast.

/-The Next Day

Ruby woke up at 6:30 in the morning to Yang splashing water over her, the cold sensation waking her instantly. She glared at a silently laughing Yang as she shook her head messily, ears and hair flopping as water cascaded from her. Yang took off, giggling as Ruby slowly got out of bed, trying the best she could to clean up after her. Her pajamas were absolutely soaked, and her bed hair was replaced by a mass of sopping wet hair and ears, like a soaked puppy, her low growling doing even less to remove that resemblance. The ruckus also woke Blake up, who glared at Ruby, only to see that her friend was covered head to toe in water, and decided to leave her be. Weiss' alarm started beeping, but the heiress refused to wake up, still sleeping in a cold trance.

The alarm beeped for a minute, before Ruby finally shut it off, the ringing hurting her ears slightly. She winked at Blake, who started waving her hands back and shaking her head, whispering:

"Ruby, don't do it."

Ruby did it.

She crouched and sprang into Weiss' bed, ears drawn back like a wolf would when pouncing on their prey, except she forgot one thing: She was made of extremely durable material, and Weiss was not. Guess she forgot that she was also incredibly dense, mentally and physically.

Weiss let out a startled squawk as the wet Preteen Robot Wolf Faunus cannoned into her stomach, driving all of the oxygen she had in her out. Gasping, she reached for her scroll, checking the time and making sure she hadn't overslept, it said 6:35, perfect Satisfied, she turned to Ruby, who thought death had surely passed, she was wrong. In one move, Weiss took the nearest pillow and smothered Ruby's face with it, muffled yelps of the silver eyed girl could be heard from underneath.

Blake didn't bat an eyelash at how Ruby was being smothered by the pillow, knowing that she would pull through. She did wonder why Ruby failed to mention how she was so close to Weiss, she had never heard the name with Ruby, and here she was, playing around with Weiss like they were old friends. Then again, she herself did blow up Schnee Manor at the tender age of 7, so she surmised that Ruby was doing it to keep her identity a secret. She left the room to take a shower and do her hair and bow, leaving Ruby to her fate at the hands of the merciless ice queen.

/

After Weiss' spell of anger had past, they all went to get dressed and prepare for initiation at 8:30. Weiss, now in her battle skirt and her trusty rapier sheathed next to her, put some of her belongings in her locker next to Pyrrha, who sat on a bench putting on her greaves.

"So Pyrrha, who do you think will be partnered with you in Beacon?"

Pyrrha's answer derailed plan or two of hers.

"I was thinking of just letting the chips fall where they may. I came here to avoid publicity after all."

"Ah…I see. We might make a great pair though…"

_I was hoping we could be together, our fighting styles go together pretty well after all. We could've also gotten some decent scores in academics._

Weiss shook her head and was just about to finish her packing, if it wasn't for the boy Jaune Arc speaking.

"You know what else is great? Me, Jaune Arc, a natural born leader.

Weiss stared at Jaune, confused. Wasn't this Ruby's boyfriend or something?

"Aren't you already in a dating situation with Ruby Rose? Why try to court me?"

"What? No! I was just helping her up, how did you get "dating" from those few seconds."

Weiss face palmed, disappointed in herself. She had only been in Beacon for half a week, and she had already forgotten how this was not Atlesian high society.

"My apologies… but still, I'm not interested. Go court someone like Pyrrha Nikos, who is a renowned fighter and cereal box mascot or something."

"Oh wait, Pyrrha's a what?"

Weiss could not believe how **dense** this blonde was, and she had seen many of them.

"Pyrrha is quite possibly the model student of Sanctum and a celebrity, you haven't heard of her?"

"Nope, but I definitely have your name Weiss."

_This Blonde most definitely had a case of the dense problem._

"Not…Interested…Jaune. Also, teams are of 4 people right Pyrrha?"

"Right…" Pyrrha wasn't what this exchange was in front of her, but once again, it was refreshing to meet people who did not know her as a celebrity.

"You don't say…Well you never know, play your cards right and you might just end up on the top team at Beacon, Snow Angel!"

Weiss decided to shut him down a bit more, just for the "Snow Angel" name.

"I believe a partnership with Ruby would be a bit more fitting. After all, she is known as the Wallflower of Signal, and we are on a first name basis, unlike dense blonde scraggly boy here."

"Ah I see, it's your loss then."

Weiss couldn't help but smirk when she saw Jaune falter when he said that. Her smirk widened a bit more when the boy leaned in for a kiss and was knocked back by Pyrrha's spear by Weiss' request. She made her way to the launch pads when the loudspeakers came on.

"Would all initiates please head towards the Beacon Cliff for initiation?

She left, leaving Jaune to be helped up by Ruby and Yang. The last words she heard were:

"I don't understand…"

/-Few minutes earlier…

Ruby was walking with Yang, each holding their weapons. Yang knew that the chances to get on the same team with her sister would be unlikely, so she had to give her sister a little pep talk before she fried her circuits in anxiety.

"Now Ruby, the teams are probably going be set by the Headmaster and his assistant, so there's a chance that we won't be in the same team. If that is the case, and you get picked as the leader, you're gonna have to open up and make some new friends."

"But what do I tell them about me being a metal construct with a soul? What if they reject me as a partner and friend?"

"Rubes, they won't, chances are they will be surprised, but they won't outright shun you because you are made of metal. If anything, they'll find it pretty cool."

"And what if they don't like Faunus?"

"They will have to, because I read over the Beacon code of conduct, and racism is discouraged and may appear on your huntsman license, limiting your job opportunities. Oh hey, that's Jaune over there right?"

Ignoring the convenient change in subject, a quick look confirmed that was Jaune collapsed on the floor. Ruby extended her hand, returning the favor.

"I don't understand, Dad said all women look for is confidence, where did I go wrong?"

Ruby helped him up and muttered words of encouragement as she supported him and his wounded pride.

Droves of students lined up on the platforms facing the emerald Forest, waiting for the signal. Some drew their weapons and flourished them, while others simply stood there. Ozpin stood in front of the group, pacing back and forth while Glynda stood behind him, a silent sentinel. The Headmaster addresses his new initiates and spoke to them, sweeping his gaze across the potential members of Beacon.

"For years you have trained to become warriors, and today your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest."

Glynda looked up from her typing on her scroll and spoke as well:

"Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of teams. Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates... today."

Ruby noticed the deadpan on Glynda's face, and she feared the worse. Her ears flattened and she braced herself for what might be randomization.

"Oh no…"

Glynda made no notice of Ruby's temperament and continued talking.

"It is imperative and in your best interest to choose a teammate with whom you can work well with."

Ruby anxiety grew a bit larger, the ears on her head pressing back even further. Then it was Ozpin's turn to speak.

"That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years."

_** STRESS.**_

Ruby's world spun for a moment, before she had to right herself to prevent herself from falling. A distant: "See, I told you!" was heard in the distance.

"After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest, you will have to fight Grimm. Do not hesitate do defeat all of the Grimm in your path, or you will be in grave danger."

Ruby heard a nervous chuckle from Jaune, were his eyes looking back and forth right now? Wasn't Jaune supposed to be a proficient and confident fighter?

She realized that Jaune didn't seem to have sparred at all during the practice bouts, and Jaune had the family heirloom Crocea Mors, not a personally crafted or requested weapon. Heck, she didn't even detect Aura from the blonde. Jaune might not be ready for this level of combat, and that made her freeze.

_**Oh no.**_

She missed what Ozpin said, but she knew that it was about the landing strategy, judging by Jaune's question about them.

The students were flung into the air one by one, a loud click and woosh signifying the departure of a student. She saw Yang put on shades and give her a wink before she too flew away. It was then ruby's turn to fly, and she flew up into the sky, a screaming Jaune a few seconds behind her.

_**/==To be continued l\/l/**_

* * *

_**I will diverge from canon, this is NOT going to be a carbon copy of the actual RWBY.**_

_**Character into, which isn't very important considering that they are background people.**_

_**Mila: Auburn haired girl with an average build, fair complexion. Weapon is a spear that has two tips, able to split when CQC is needed. Spear can also be infused with dust, letting it spray fire and ice. Semblance is temporary hydrokinesis, allowing her to create walls of water and turn them into ice or steam. **_

_**Nep: Red haired girl with a slight tan, athletic build. Shotgun which can fold out into a curved sword, which looks like a claymore. Semblance is to create a concussive blast near her. Effective in pushing people back with her weapon.**_


	20. Chapter 20

Sorry for the wait, a few things got in the way, like my Office Word expiring.

* * *

Chapter 20: Emerald Forest.

Qrow flew quietly, prepared to report back to Ozpin and give him the information recovered from the latest scouting mission. It was imperative to tell him that he had discovered that Salem was moving Hazel and Tyrian towards Mistral. He frowned as he heard the familiar sounds of the launch pads being activated, and his eyes widened as colored dots began flying towards him. He immediately attempted to bank up to avoid the trajectory of some of the students flying towards him.

Unfortunately for Qrow, Ruby's trajectory was much farther than the average student, and she hit him right in the face with her metal head. He spiraled downwards, dazed after being hit by a metal object going 200 miles an hour and landed softly on the floor. Moments later, before he could say anything else, his other niece landed on him in a fireball of yellow hair, whooping with glee as she unknowingly trampled her uncle.

"Nailed it!" Was her cry of triumph as she ran into the forest.

Qrow stayed down on the ground for a good 5 minutes, nursing his hurt face, back, and pretty much every bone in his body.

/

Ruby cheered in delight as she felt the air rushing around her, the ground behind her disappearing very quickly. She realized that being a person made of metal meant that she would fly much higher than her fellow students, and she made one of that by pulling out her weapons, ready to use the gun recoil to get her down. It was then that she hit a bird on the way down, its feathers now scattering behind her slipstream.

"Birdie No!"

Alas there was no time to mourn, the ground fast approaching, and a screaming Jaune on her six. Ruby looked over to Pyrrha, who was flying parallel to her, and pointed at Jaune behind her. Pyrrha nodded, and got hold of the nearest tree, before sending a javelin towards Jaune. Ruby attached her scythes together and began spinning then, a purple glow around her as she tried to create lift with gravity dust and the spinning blades. She succeeded, slowing down her descent and landing on the ground, hooking around a tree with Crescent Rose.

She landed on the ground with a soft thump, looking for potential partners. Pyrrha had dibs on Jaune, so that was a no go, and Yang was nowhere to be seen. Blake and Weiss would also be good potential partners, since they were part of the select few people who knew about Ruby's metal constitution. She heard the trill of Weiss' voice nearby, and flew towards it as fast as her semblance could allow her.

/

Weiss had used her glyphs to get down safely, jumping from one to another, until she landed in a grassy clearing surrounded by trees. She looked up and saw Jaune flying overhead, a red missile gaining on him. There was a sound of a metal hitting wood, then a "thank you," and an "I'm sorry!" in rapid succession.

"That Jaune fellow was certainly a lucky person."

She suddenly felt as if someone had pinpointed there exact position and had begun rushing towards her. Oddly specific, but she was sure it was n-

"WEISS!"

Ruby exploded from one of the bushes, heading straight for Weiss. At the same time, a Beowolf made its presence known by lunging at Ruby, instead of the stock still Weiss. The two hit each other, and the Beowolf disintegrated into a black mist, while Ruby flew headfirst into the ground. Ruby's nerve receptors flashed a bit, suggesting minor denting in the back plates as she groaned.

A howl of another Beowolf rang out as paw steps became louder and louder as they drummed on the forest floor. Ruby stood up and deployed her scythes, the deadly blades humming once again. They stood back to back as a pack of Beowolf's surrounded them. Weiss drew Myrtenaster, ready to unleash icy elemental fury on the Grimm.

_This is a partnership I can get behind._

_/_

Yang crashed into the ground, rolling as she chuckled with the adrenaline rush fading slightly. She started running into the forest, feeling that she may have stepped on something important on the way down. Shrugging, she ran deep into the forest, remembering that the ruins were located north of her.

"Hello?" she called out, hoping for an answer from her peppy sister or Blake.

"Is anybody there? I'm getting bored here."

A rustle came from the bushes behind her, and she quickly ran to them, hoping that Ruby would show up. She saw two Ursa Minors instead. They looked up from what other thing they were probably observing, and jumping at Yang.

She leapt back, before winding up and punching one of the Ursae in the abdomen.

"You guys haven't seen a girl in a red hood with wolf ears have you?"

This apparently triggered a response as they charged, roaring all the way, red eyes looking at Yang.

"You could've said no, eyes up here folks!"

She dodged the clumsy swings of the two Ursae, easily ducking and flipping around the lumbering arms of the Grimm. That changed when she saw a golden strand of hair fall to the ground.

"Goddamn, you assholes, that was Hair Strand #365, the second oldest of the bunch!"

She saw red, and the unfortunate Grimm saw an angry blonde with red eyes, and she descended upon them, completely obliterating the two of them in a smoke. A third one lingered in the bushes, unsure of whether that spike in negativity was a good investment to pursue or not. A blade to the back of its head ended its contemplations as Blake stepped out from behind, wearing a faint smile.

Yang's eyes turned back to their calm lilac, and she breathed out.

"Meh, I could've taken him."

/

Pyrrha jogged down to the area where her spear landed. Attached to it was Jaune, who was clearly struggling to unpin the javelin from his hoodie.

"Jaune? Do you still have spots left on your team?"

She perked up when Jaune looked at her, and he scoffed in mock annoyance.

"Haha, very funny."

He smiled back.

/

Ozpin watched as the students flew from the pads, eyebrows lifting up a bit when he saw a crow get hit by Ruby, spiraling in the air. He motioned to Glynda and pointed at the poor bird.

"Glynda, keep an eye on that crow, if it meets any misfortune on the way down its Qrow."

He watched for a moment more, his forehead creased as he watched Jaune Arc flail around and get caught by Pyrrha. He might truly be an unprepared student for all of this, but historically all Arcs have defined themselves in ways thought impossible.

"Professor, the crow- I mean Qrow was trampled by his other niece Yang as soon as he landed on the ground, the bird is now on fire."

The view now depicted an angry man patting his shoulders and cape as flames engulfed him, the flames only getting onto his hand when he tried to put it out, thank god for Aura. He put it out, and took one step before a stray 50 caliber bullet from Ruby's scythes hit his foot. Needless to say, this Qrow was in a terrible mood.

Ozpin nodded

_Definitely Qrow._

_/_

Deep below the Emerald Forest an ancient Deathstalker lay sleeping. It slumbered, awaiting the day it's master needed it to cause misery, death and destruction when the day came. however, it detected a faint pulse of a instinct it couldn't describe. It felt as if it needed to chase down an entity that had died once before, and had cheated death. At once red lines began to glow for the first time in decades, it's glowing stinger now at the ready. It began to dig itself out of it's old den, stone and dirt falling away from it's old and heavily armored carapace. It's senses homed in on the wolf Faunus whose existence went against the laws it's creator itself had made long ago, to keep balance between life and death.

It had a target, and it wouldn't cheat death twice.

On a cliff far away, a Giant Nevermore raised it's head to screech, unfolding it's wings. It too had noticed the violation in the balance between life and death, and it sought to fix that.

Nevermore would that wolf Faunus live to see the light of day.

* * *

REEE LINE BREAKS


	21. Chapter 21

**My apologies for the long wait, i was sick and was covered in a lot of work for the past few days. To make up for my misdeed i have published my longest chapter yet. Enjoy.**

* * *

Chapter 21: Fight or Flight.

Emerald Forest

Jaune walked along with Pyrrha as the two students travelled down one of the paths in the forest, with Pyrrha looking in every direction and having her weapon with her, and Jaune walking causally behind her, slightly off put by her behavior. Pyrrha was confused on why they had met so little opposition in the first few hours of initiation. It was as if all the Grimm in the forest had gone after some other students, but Grimm didn't discriminate, right?

Jaune's yelp distracted her from her thoughts as she quickly raced over to him, looking to see why he had fallen down. She realized that she had hit him with a branch and quickly apologized.

"I'm sorry!"

Jaune reassured her with a wave, saying it was a scratch, but said scratch was not healing up, actually, how did he get a scratch?

"Jaune, why didn't you activate your aura?"

"What?"

"You're Aura Jaune."

"Gesundheit."

…

"Jaune, do you…know what Aura is…"

"Of course I do, do you know what Aura is?"

"Aura is a manifestation of our souls, it shields us from harm and takes blows meant for us, allowing us to survive fight for another day. Everyone has it, even animals, and maybe trees."

She began to circle Jaune as she talked about Aura, seeing that no monsters were interested in them at the moment. Overhead, a crow awkwardly flew over their heads, clearly in a bit of pain.

"Do Grimm have this power as well?"

"No, Grimm do not have an Aura, they lack a soul and therefore will not have Aura. They are creations of fear, anger, depression, and the negative emotions seeking to snuff us out. They are the darkness, and we are the light."

Ren suddenly popped into view, knocked back as a King Taijitu came into view, brushing past trees in an effort to attack them, its eyes blazing with anger as two Stormflowers could be seen lodged in the Black Taijitu's body. It charged, and Ren managed to push against the fangs of the Serpent, his aura flaring out. He ripped out the snake fangs with his hands and punched them into the Snake, ending the Black half. A pink blur suddenly dropped from the trees, with a small red headed girl smashing the White Taijitu's head into the ground, ending the two headed monster. Jaune then had his mind enlightened on Aura, and all its aspects

"OH, so it's like a force field, got it."

While Pyrrha gave Jaune a TED talk on force fields, Ruby and Weiss trudged through the forest, wary of every single twig that snapped and every single rustle in a bush, and for good reason. For the past hour they had been beset by 70 Beowolves, 3 of which were Alphas. There was also a giant Nevermore that had circled them every now and them, sometimes raining feathers towards the ground when it got a clear shot. They were being impeded by the Grimm, and they needed to get to the ruins. The bird was coming for another strafe, and yet another Beowolf pack made its presence known, the howls signifying a group of at least a dozen strong. They needed to find a way to regroup with the other students, and fast. The Nevermore came down, swooping over the treetops, releasing a whistling hail of dark feathers, peppering the area with small black projectiles. Ruby spun Waning Crescent Rose, deflecting the feathers that would have hit them.

Ruby had a plan, but she wasn't sure if Weiss would comply with it.

"Weiss, do you trust me enough to do something crazy?"

"We'll cross that bridge when we get there Ruby, so do it!"

Ruby suddenly whisked up Weiss with her semblance, the duo now flying towards the Nevermore which was doing yet another pass. The feathers of the avian Grimm missed the original target and hit the pack behind them, decimating the Beowolves and turning them into a cloud of black mist.

Yang and Blake looked on in confusion as another pack of Grimm completely ignored them and ran right past the duo. Shooting them from a distance had only drawn out the Younger Grimm, who lashed out at them and were quickly dispatched. Team CFVY looked on in confusion as the screen displayed that a King Taijitu had ignored Yang and Blake. Even Ozpin was confused, and he suspected that an unknown factor had changed up the initiation.

"Glynda, I want you to be ready at a moment's notice to assist the students, there might be a massive Grimm attack moving in."

_Please don't let this be the work of Salem, the students here are still so young..._

Weiss was a little upset. She had trusted Ruby with a plan, but she had expected to use glyphs and other types of methods, not one that was hitching a ride on a large Nevermore. Now they rode on the avian beast, with the snowy girl berating the very sheepish wolf Faunus.

"This is a terrible idea Ruby!"

"You gave the go ahead Weiss, I did what I had to!"

"I no longer support your plans you red lunatic! Did you think this through?"

Ruby didn't, but she did see the ruins they were supposed to be at.

"Umm…look, the ruins, Jump Weiss!"

"What, Ruby?! You deserting traitor!"

Ruby did not hear the rest of what Weiss said as she descended down towards the ground, believing that Weiss had jumped with her. A look back confirmed she was not. She spiraled towards the ground and bent her knees to do a "superhero landing" in front of Yang and Blake who were standing beside the ruins. Yang cocked an eyebrow and greeted Ruby, as if she didn't just desert Weiss and jump off a Nevermore.

"Hey Ruby, I see that you're doing fine today, so Frosty there is your partner right?"

Ruby scratched her head nervously as the Nevermore flew overhead, an angry heiress holding onto one of the talons, screaming obscenities at her from above. Around them, Beowolves bayed and howled, and a small portion of the forest was ablaze.

"Hehe…Never been better…"

A shout of "I got a relic!" was quickly replaced with a girly scream, and the trio turned their heads to the sound. Jaune flew from the clearing, flying into Ruby, and the two collapsed into a small heap. He was then followed by Nora, who decided to hop on an Ursa heading towards Ruby and Co, the Ursa swiftly dispatched when a group came in sight. Pyrrha came next, a Deathstalker right behind her. Ruby, Yang and Blake were shocked by how quickly the Grimm had compiled at their location, and they were about to comment about it, but Jaune decided to be a hero and catch a falling Weiss, which the group had forgotten about.

As one could expect, Jaune was able to save Weiss at the expense of being her cushion, his back sore from the small girl landing on it, it was a good thing it was Weiss and not some taller person. He groaned as Weiss checked her nails, clearly fine and happy to be unhurt. Pyrrha would have stopped and asked if Jaune was okay if she was not currently being chased by a giant Grimm scorpion. She waved over to the small congregation of students and waved to them, signaling them for some support as the Nevermore also closed in. Yang turned to Ruby, about to suggest a miracle plan for the Nevermore, but she turned to a blank spot in their ranks.

Ruby had immediately burst into action, drawing her scythes and ignoring the multiple warnings of her sister and friends about the Nevermore above and the encroaching pack of Beowolves behind it. She yelled as she charged the horde, roses trailing behind her. It was not until she hit the Ancient Deathstalker until she realized how tough its carapace actually was, and she had left her teammates behind her, none of the other students capable of reaching speeds like her. Her eyes widened as the Deathstalker loomed over her, its pincers and tail rearing back to crush the Faunus before it. The Nevermore also cawed in triumph and let out a barrage of feathers, hoping to kill the girl in a hail of death.

Ruby braced herself for the incoming damage, until a flash of white surrounded her. Weiss stood over her, a shelter of ice covering the both of them. The Deathstalker chittered in anger as its tail and pincers were covered in ice, and the Nevermore passed over them like an angel of death, reminding them of their dangerous predicament.

"Ruby, that was awfully reckless of you, did you even think that only I was remotely fast enough to reach you with my glyphs right now? What would have happened if I couldn't show up in time?"

"I would have been fine Weiss, I could've taken them."

Ruby puffed up her cheeks and pouted, looking like a cross child who wanted candy.

"I know, but you would have been severely damaged, and that would be awfully inconvenient considering that we've been tailed by a horde for the entirety of initiation."

She paused, taking in a deep breath.

"I know you're eager to slay Grimm, but there are much better ways to kill them, and much better places to lie on the ground, so let's go partner."

She helped Ruby up, who was promptly engulfed by Yang in a hug.

"Sis, I love you and all, but please do not jump into these situations too much, you're going to make me gray before my time."

"Yang, you literally smashed a bar up about a few weeks ago."

"I like to teach by experience, now let's go tear Grimm up baby sister."

"Actually…"

Weiss came into the conversation, a look of slight apprehension on her face. The Deathstalker had broken out of the icy cage, and the Nevermore crested the hill, its wingspan blocking out the sun. Packs of Beowolves also came towards them, barking and Baying, all of them heading towards the girl who had died twice, Ruby Rose.

"Our objective was to retrieve relics and return to the Academy. Yang do you have the relics?"

"I do."

"Then let's retreat, the number of Grimm might be too much for us today, we should get back up at the ruins. We have overstayed our welcome."

A general consensus was reached, and the 8 students Ruby, Weiss, Blake, Yang, Jaune, Nora, and Pyrrha ran towards the ruins, looking for shelter from the coming horde.

...

The bridge to the ruins was old and covered in moss, cracks showing every few meters. That did not bode well, nor did the fact that the Giant Nevermore was diving straight for it, roaring as its head became level with the walkway. It crashed right through, reducing the old masonry to rubble. The impact sent everyone except Ren, Pyrrha and Blake to the temple steps.

Ruby, Yang and Weiss held on to each other as they were sent flying into the stairs leading to the remains of the ancient temple, Ruby unfortunately being the cushion this time. She groaned as her top heavy sister landed on her first, pressing her head farther into the stone. Weiss soon followed, and she landed on Ruby's head back first, drawing out groans of pain from the both of them. They got up and looked up to see the Nevermore flying away, its cry rallying the Deathstalker from afar. Jaune also pulled his head out of the ground, eyes widening in dismay as he looked from his side of the bridge.

The Deathstalker itself was chasing the people who were not knocked from the bridge, and it was closing in. The space between the scorpion and the empty space of the bridge grew less and less as the scorpion pushed the three remaining students closer to the gap.

"Man, we got to get over there!" He cried out, trying to figure out how he should make the jump across.

He head an eerie cackling behind him, and he turned to see Nora with a wide smile, too wide in fact. Her grenade launcher extended into a hammer, and she brought it over her head to swing it down.

"Wait, nononono!"

Nora smashed the ground in front of him, sending him flying from his previous spot like a catapult, ignoring his screaming as she pressed a button on Magnhild, the hammer now flying towards Pyrrha's group with Nora on top. She brought her hammer down on the Deathstalker, causing it to rear back in pain. Its golden stinger came down at Nora, pushing her back, which caused Nora to push Blake off into the sea of mist below the bridge.

Fortunately for Blake, her weapon was built around mobility, and she now used it to save her life. She threw her blade into one of the pillars of the building and swung up, glimpsing the Nevermore on her way up.

She pulled back her blade and leapt up onto the Nevermore, cleaver also drawn out. She began to run down the Nevermore, slicing at everything she could on the way down. She landed next to the sisters and Weiss as they faced down the Nevermore as I began to fly towards them.

At the bridge...

Jaune and his group were able to even the odds with fighting against the Death Stalker. They saw that the Deathstalker would only reach out at them, not wanting to go any further. Both they and the Deathstalker knew that if it were to get on the bridge, they would all fall to their death, and that frustrated the Deathstalker. It wanted to attack the metal girl, but this group and the gap between the two parts of the bridge were in its way, preventing the scorpion from fulfilling the goal of restoring the balance between life and death.

The group looked at each other, not sure what do next. They were safe at the moment, but they were still trapped, and they didn't want to stay and find out whether the Nevermore would swoop at them or not. They conversed amid the frustrated clicking of the Deathstalker, a momentary lull in the silence. Jaune was able to fabricate a basic plan, but it was pretty rough around the edges. Ren would distract the scorpion and hopefully blind it, which would make the creature retreat with Ren still on it. Then they would have Nora bash its head in with a lift from Nora, or just retreat and get into more favorable positions. Any objections were cut off by the screech of the Nevermore, it was now or never.

Ren jumped into action, leaping over a swing of one of the Deathstalker's pincers and a jab from the stinger. He held on to the appendage as the scorpion swung his tail around, trying to dislodge him. Ren tried to steady himself and stuck one of his Stormflowers into the area of flesh behind the Grimm's stinger, trying to shoot the eyes of the Deathstalker out with his other Stormflower. He was unsuccessful as the Grimm shook harder and threw him off, causing the stinger's joint to become shredded when the Stormflower was ripped off. He hit the ground behind the Deathstalker with a thud, groaning in pain.

"REN!"

Nora's voice echoed as the Deathstalker turned its attention back towards them, eyes burning with anger. Jaune looked up and saw that the stinger of the Deathstalker was hanging by a few tendons and a prayer, and he saw an opening.

"Pyrrha!"

"Done."

Akoúo̱ flew from the champion girl's grasp and cut the stinger of the Deathstalker, causing it to land on the head of the gigantic scorpion. The shield flew back and landed on her arm, a black glow surrounding it.

"NORA, SMASH!"

Pyrrha brought her shield over her head, and gave the short ginger a boost. Nora giggled as she soared sitting on her hammer, but as she reached the highest point of her ascent, she brought her hammer out and started spinning towards the ground. Her impact with the stinger on the Deathstalker's head was so strong it threw Jaune and Pyrrha off the bridge and onto the safe grassy area, Nora soon following with a rocket blast from Magnhild. Ren soon joined with them, collapsing onto the ground in exhaustion. They were fortunate that the Grimm had gone around the gap in order to reach Ruby's group instead of them, and the death of an ancient Grimm had intimidated the remaining Grimm enough for them to stay away from the squad.

In the ruins...

Ruby and her merry band of girls were hard pressed to find a way to kill the Nevermore. They weren't doing too badly at the moment, the Nevermore unable to hit them with feathers due to the pillars, but both them and the Grimm were getting impatient.

-Ruby wanted to unleash her full firepower against the Grimm, but the Nevermore kept hitting and running.

-Weiss wanted to give it a slow death, because a feather tore a hole in her combat skirt earlier. She wanted to rip it feather by feather.

-Blake just wanted to go home, it was a long day and she wanted to take a nap.

-Yang was the Yang, and wanted to punch it and fight.

-The Grimm wanted to kill the girl made of metal, but none of its feathers were connecting and if it were to be honest with you it was getting annoying when the 4 people would instantly start firing at it as it passed by.

This needed to end.

The Grimm finally gave up its game of cloud cover and feather spamming, now opting more a more direct approach. Down below, Ruby deployed Waning and Crescent Rose, shifting them both into sniper from. She knelt down and put one sniper on each arm, turning into a makeshift anti air battery, her metal body able to handle the strain as she fired 2 50-caliber rounds a second. Yang tossed up her ammo clips, reloading her gauntlets in a flashy manner as she prepared the burn dust rounds. Weiss flicked her hand up, and Glyphs appeared around her and sparked with elemental energy, firing all types of lasers and projectiles. Blake looked on at them, and sighed as she pulled out her small 9mm gun and started firing.

The Nevermore hissed in annoyance as a multitude of bullets rained on it, the red one again proving to be the most annoying one of them all. All it could see were flashes and smoke from her contraptions, each bullet from it chipping away some feathers. It maintained its present course and flew straight through the ruins, destroying the ancient temple and sending the 4 girls cascading down.

Annoyingly enough, the annoying creatures climbed their way up in the most outrageous of ways. From running up the remaining pillars to using circles that shone with a white light. It flew up and prepared to attack again. It was determined to get at least one of them.

Ruby and the girls looked up from the remains of the ruins, seeing their enemy fly away. Yang and Blake had stationed themselves atop two of the pillars, while Weiss stood with her. Ruby suddenly gained another devilish idea, and Weiss could tell by the pure but evil smile she had, looking at their flying nemesis from afar.

"I have a plan, cover me Weiss, and freeze the Grimm in place. YANG FIGHT IT!"

"Heck yeah sis!"

Yang began shooting more of her burn dust shots, hitting the Nevermore and drawing to her. She leapt into its maw, punching it as she spoke through gritted teeth.

"I HOPE YOU'RE HUN-GRY"

The Nevermore tumbled into the Cliffside, dazed, and Weiss came in fast. She froze the base of the Nevermore's tail and flipped pack, where Yang and Blake were making a makeshift slingshot with Gambol shroud and two pillars. Ruby sat perched on the stretched ribbon, and they were ready to launch.

"Of course you would come up with this type of plan." Weiss remarked, drawing a glance from Ruby."

"Can you make this shot?"

"Hmph, can I…"

Ruby wasn't sure if that was sarcasm or actual doubt.

"Can-"

"OF COURSE I CAN."

And with that, Weiss launched Ruby at the Nevermore with a glyph. She yelled at the top of her lungs as she activated her semblance, unfolding her snipers back into her scythes and hooking them around the neck of the Nevermore. A line of glyphs aided her ascent up the cliff as she dragged the Grimm up, both Faunus and Grimm screeching. She reached the top and cut the bird's head off in one clean stoke, petals falling everywhere as she landed.

The fight was over, the Grimm's body plummeting down into the mist as it faded to ash. Yang felt that she needed to break the silence.

"Well, that was a thing."

* * *

**Also another thing I would like to say, is that I am completely reworking The Past follows the Present, my other fic. I felt like I started on that too early, and I should wait for a bit and change things up to give you guys a more finished product.**

**Toodles for now.**


	22. Chapter 22

AGW, September 11th.

Chapter 21: Unpacking.

"Blake Belladonna, Yang Xiao Long, Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee. You four have successfully retrieved the 4 white chess pieces. From this point on you will be known as team RWBY, and the position of leadership goes to Ruby Rose."

Ruby's world ground to a halt, and for a second it seemed as if all the gears in her body had been turned into clay and shattered. Ozpin had announced her, the 15 year old prodigy, leader of Team RWBY in front of the entire school. She could feel the eyes of several hundred eyes locked on to her position on the large stage, with a few extra cameras flashing away.

All hopes of blending in with the background were shot twice and burnt into dust as approximately 60,000 people watched as she was nominated a team leader in the most prestigious academy in Vale. It was over for her, the twelfth hour. She would have to change names, and perhaps change her clothes and hair. Before she went anywhere deeper into that rabbit hole, a tap from Yang caused her to leap up, ears flattening as the Blonde grinned at her. They were now at the dorm room assigned to them, time passing so quickly

"You'll be fine Ruby, stop worrying about the public knowing about you. There's not much they can do, and nobody in the world could possibly find a reason to go after you."

Ruby sighed again, and she looked at the ground in front of Yang's feet, head bowed. Blake and Weiss watched from their beds in concern as she mumbled out the next phrase.

"It's just, the silence and all of the gazes, it just feels a bit like that day."

The day Ruby was referring to was the day footage of the SDC bomb incident was leaked to the outside world 2 months about the incident, a brief moment catching her face clearly. It was also the day that Ruby had chosen to visit Weiss with Yang and Tai. Her features and name stood out like a firework in the night sky, drawing the attention of all people who had seen the footage of the explosion. One particular incident was when she was walking home with her family.

_The airships back at Patch whistled as the three got off, walking to the walkway which would lead to Tai's car Zippy, which was parked at the overnight area. Suddenly, Ruby felt one gaze lock on to the back of her head, then two more. More and more people started looking and a quiet murmuring rose up. Ruby looked up to see the play by play of the incident on live television, with a reporter talking in the foreground. Ruby could see her father and the women mouthing words, but she could not hear. All she could hear was the incident all over again, her scream echoing in her mind, which was slowly replaced by a ringing sound as her family picked up the pace, eventually losing sight of the mass of eyes that followed them._

_Ruby locked herself in her room for the rest of that Saturday._

Yang nodded in understanding, and they looked at the mess of beds and luggage, sighing as Weiss lugged in a third suitcase of Gods Knows What. For now, they clambered into their beds, preparing for the next day.

Weiss was not sure how she felt about Ruby getting the role of a leader. She was happy for the girl, but she felt a small nagging at the back of her brain. Sure, Ruby was certainly a combat capable person, but she had almost no sense of self preservation. Weiss knew that Ruby had always wanted to be the hero of her story, the one who triumphs over evil, but she played too close to the actual role. Heroes did not live to see the end of the tale, and Weiss had already seen Ruby come close to the embrace of death once before, and the fact that Ruby knew her own mortality but carried on like that made the insides of her body slowly churn. She scolded herself for thinking that, before closing her eyes and adjusting her pillow to prop her head up at the right angle. She needed to have some more faith in her friend and leader.

She would not sleep well that night.

In the Neighboring dorm, Pyrrha sat on her bed watching the newly minted team JNPR sleep. Jaune was an interesting choice as leader, but she couldn't deny that he was a good choice. Nora was a loose cannon, capable of great feats of strength but wild and uncontrollable all the same. Ren was a silent bastion of strength, but he always maintained a silence that rarely could be breached in battle, and he followed Nora wherever she went. Pyrrha herself knew that she was a skilled warrior, but she always dived in without taking control of the situation, treating most battles as an arena match instead of a team effort, which made calling shots difficult.

Among all these thoughts was another thing that plagued her mind, Ruby Rose. The girl with the foresight to have herself hidden from public eye, and a masterful user of a difficult weapon, one capable of tearing a hole in its own master.

There was something uncanny about her. If there was a rating for how deep Ruby went into the Uncanny Valley, Ruby would have reached crush depth. She acted like a Faunus, looked like one, and ate and drank in front of them all the same, but her face was too cherubic, too unnatural, as if it was preset and formed to stay as that smile. Faint whirrs and clicks was the sound that resonated around her, and as though she thought only her arms were mechanical, her legs also made the same sound when she had kicked Pyrrha in the face, and a quick pulse of her Semblance had confirmed that.

_What is she?_

That would have to be a mystery for now though, as sleep rose like a black blanket and gently took her into the realm of dreams.

_Penny looked up to her mother, and they watched the setting sun. She had heard stories of what the earth below had looked like, but as fate would have it, she never lived long enough to open her eyes. Now she sat in the afterlife, the breeze gently pushing her hair up into her eyes._

"_What was father like?"_

"_Your father is a great scientist, and a loving father and husband. When you were in my womb he was the most excited person on earth, wreathed in smiles and calling every 5 hours to make sure I was okay. Despite his best efforts, he wasn't able to save me on that day."_

_Her mother paused, looking again into the expanse of sunlight that slowly set under the waters far away._

"_He hasn't changed very much since, though he carries a more somber tune now that we are not with him. He has extended his hand to others, and continues to save the lives of people he holds dear."_

"_And one day…"_

_Her mother smiled as she said that, poking her finger into Penny's cheeks._

"_You might come back to see him."_

_Penny then smiled with her mother, and they laughed as the sun finally set._

Penny woke up in her bed, putting her hand to her head as she remembered that conversation. She checked her clock, the device displaying the time as 6:45 in the morning. She yawned, before getting up to open the door that led to her Father's lab.

She opened the door and saw her Father snoozing with his head resting on his workbench, a cup of coffee in his right hand. She smiled as her Father woke up and waved at her sleepily.

"Hello Penny, good morning."

She helped the old man up and together they answered the door, where uncle Ironwood had been knocking for about 4 minutes.

The General's frown was quickly replaced by a smile as he saw the scientist being supported be his daughter. He had a bit of news for them that would probably make their day better. He cleared his throat before he took a letter out of his pocket, giving it to the pair of Polendinas.

"After months of waiting and training…Penny Polendina is finally cleared for combat training and official enrollment into Atlas Academy, Congratulations."

He didn't miss the silent "Yes!" of Penny as she took the letter with wide eyes and a larger smile. She then picked up her father in a bone crushing hug, lifting the poor man easily. She spun him around a few times before she realized the price of her exuberance, and quickly let her father down, apologizing.

In a few months, Penny would find herself competing with the best of the best of students all over Remnant, but baby steps for now. She skipped to the sparring rooms, eager to test her new weapons.

Life on Earth was exciting, and she couldn't wait to see what else it had to offer.

None of them noticed the gaze of Arthur Watts, who watched like a hawk in the distance. The man, according to public, had stayed hidden from public after a log of him was discovered, with multiple paragraphs indicating emotional and psychological experimentation with Grimm. He was banished from the field of science after that, deemed a danger by the council, who saw his projects on the innate works on Aura inhumane and a beacon of negativity.

Arthur still remembered that day, where he made it out of his house with the skin of his teeth. He had shot himself out of an emergency rocket locker in the top floor while soldiers broke down his front door. Now with Salem, Watt's dream of the perfected human race could be reached. His intense hatred for Dr. Polendina only grew stronger as he saw the man chatting with his Superior and his creation, and he could scarcely control himself at that very moment. Polendina was a progressive man and was interested in his theory on Aura, but jumped ship and exposed him as soon as they got to the live human stage. And now here was the ethical Professor, bringing the soul of his daughter back to live in a chunk of metal.

Watts saw how relaxed the professor was beside his "daughter," and he vowed from his spot on a neighboring building, to bring suffering to Poledina in the most painful way possible.

And now he knew just how to do it.

* * *

_**Sorry for being a ghost, but now that summer finals are over, production speed will greatly increase, and my other story will also begin to be revived, thanks for being patient and waiting.**_


	23. Chapter 23

AGW, September 12th.

Note: The last few months have been quite hectic, but I'll keep this brief so it's not half a page long. I had an accident and hurt my neck while going to a trip hear Kelowna, and have been recovering and working with University applications at the same time. So apologies for that.

Transcript from Watt's Diary, Entry #1-4-1-13

It's been an extremely harrowing day, some rest and writing would do me some good, so my chances of losing myself to a rant are very high, but a memoir should be kept if I were to perish, so someone can follow in my steps to complete my dream. Humanity and the Faunus have never truly come close to discovering the limits of their Aura and Semblance, as well as the connection the mind and body have with the power inside of us.

For years the intellectuals of this earth have looked for ways to improve themselves, to become the ultimate being, only for war, famine, age, or illness to seal them and their knowledge away, watching in their graves as the next generation tries to do what they have not. I however, have found in the corners of the map of Remnant, a key to perfect Humans and all that lives on this earth, a true path to utopia. However, the path that lies ahead is a painful one, one that may cost many lives and much more if humanity is not ready to accept that their lives are too short and their bodies too weak. Despite being one of the most physically weakest people on this planet, I have achieved much more under the guidance of one much stronger than the entire Atlas military. I have found knowledge, wisdom left in the dust years after its disappearance, and what I have found could change warfare and other aspects of life that would be discarded, if we were given the chance to. But the people of now are not ready to accept what I have already begun to explore, and have banished me from the lofty heights of Atlas, for people who look down on those below, the people of Atlas are surprisingly afraid of newfound heights. My research now lies in the lands of the darkness, in the continent where the sun is red.

It is here where I have made the most progress, ran furthest in the race, as I have discovered the ways in which one's aura could be made more powerful, more destructive, and keep them alive for longer periods of time. While all the people in the kingdoms chant: "With the Grimm lies death," I think otherwise. Salvation lies within the Grimm, the key to our progress, a stepping stone. Tests conducted on humans and other humanoid species have led to results that would allow me to say this without doubt. On a somber and bleak September afternoon in the Southern shores of Mantle, a boy by the name of Adam was found bleeding out in ice cold water. Taking him with me, I examined his body and found scars and many other sorts of damage to indicate abuse, the most prominent one being the brand of the Schnee Dust Corporation on his left eye. After nursing him back to full health and taking him back to my facility, which proved to be no small task as the weather became extremely rough. When I returned to the base, I had the Faunus confined to a room with a bed, seeing that the boy's mental condition was most unstable at the moment. It was with Adam that I learned how embracing negative emotions and a constant state of acute stress would lead to the Semblance of a person to develop more destructive capabilities, as the boy's unlocked semblance became more and more oriented to deal out a more destructive wave of energy rather than a weaker pulse of it, eventually to the point where one day I woke up to find an empty room and a hole on the left side of the wall. To this day he remains unseen, but eventually I will see the day when he rises to power with his newfound power.

Judging on his choice of words and anger to anything related to the Schnee Dust Company, I believe that he will focus his efforts on fighting them, and bringing them down. This would be a boon for me, as the Schnee Dust Company is one of the many hurdles that I must cross to reach my goal. It's members and leaders all promote dust as the key to man's success, but dust can only get you so far, it's unique feature of being disabled once in space a reminder of why other sources of power would suite the people on this earth, but those leading it are archaic, old fashioned, behind the times. They are afraid of losing their position of being the most successful provider of energy on earth, the sole thing keeping their ghosts from catching up to them, and when those ghosts reach them, they will have nowhere to run.

However, they are not the true and main obstacle I face, that title would belong to my old friend, the fabled Professor Polendina, the first man ever to mix man with machine, King of Prosthetics. My mentor into the studies of technology and programming, but refusing to follow me into the improvements of mankind, almost succeeding in stopping my plans once and for all. Now I lie in wait, soon the Professor will fall to age, but I still possess a number of years to study, and I know where to hit him where it hurts the most. He should enjoy the precious moments with this daughter while he still can, because I will come back to ruin him.

The push for the improvement of humanity has begun, once started, many will fall along the way, and untold losses shall be displayed on the papers, but humanity shall rise improved and spread among the stars, no longer held back by mortality, hunger, sickness, and the foolish belief that Grimm are the dark side of this world, humanity is capable of far more vile and hateful things, as well as greatness. You listen well Polendina, your days are numbered, and people like you who impede the development of humanity will be at the bottom of the pack, left behind as those around you take to the stars.


End file.
